
ri;iss L-> ^a^ 



S3D Congress, \ SENATE. f Mis. Doc. 

3</ Session. J \ No. 64. 



PROCEEDINGS IN CONGRESS 



Acceptance of the Statues 



John Stark and Daniel Webster, 

c/O vV ^ 

^^ — „v ^:,o(. APR SOlJ^Pfi ■ 

THE STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. 



WASHINGTON: 

GOVERNMKNT I'RINTIIilO OIFICE. 
1895. 



531J Congress, i 
■Xfi Session. 



Mis. Doc 
No. 64. 



.5. 53c^ a. ,., 3cU.^^, ls^^-l?.^S■ 



PkOCEHDIXGS IN CONGRHSS 



Acceptance oi the Statues 



John Stark and Daniel Webst 






ft^ 



^ 




THE STATH OF NEW HAMPSHIRE 



W.\SI1INGT()N 

OOVEKNMKM- rRENTI^i; < 

i,S95. 



r..,^^ 






CONCURRENT RESOLUTION to authorize the jirirting and binding of the 
proceedings in Congress upon the acceptance of the statues of John Stark 
and Daniel Webster, presented by the Stale of New Hampshire. 

Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives eone lining), 
That there be printed and bound in one volume of the proceedings 
in Congress upon the acceptance of the statues of the late John 
Stark, and D.\niel WeRster sixteen thousand five hundred copies, 
of which five thousand shall be for the use of the Senate, ten thou- 
sand for the use of the House of Representatives, and the remain- 
ing one thousand five hundred shall be for use and distribution by 
the governor of New Hampshire; and the Secretary of the Treasury 
is hereby directed to have printed engravings of said statues to 
accompany said proceedings, said engravings to be paid for out of 
the appropriation for the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. . 
2 



D 8. tMf 



6^ 



^4 



CONTENTS. 
Acceptance ok the Statue of John Stark. 

Page. 

Pivceediiti^s iii the Senate 5 

Addres.s of Mr. Gallinckr, of New Hampshire .. 8 

Proctor, of Vermont 33 

Dubois, of Idaho 40 

Chandler, of New Hampshire 44 

Proceediiii^s in the House of Representatives 49 

.Address of Mr. Baker, of New Hampshire 53 

Powers, of Vermont . 70 

Grout, of Vermont 76 

Blair, of New Hampshire 99 

Acceptance of the Statue of Daniel Webster: 

Proceeduii^s in the Senate 113 

Address of Mr. CHANDLER, of New Hampshire 114 

Hoar, of Massachusetts 134 

-MoROAN, of-.Mabama.. 148 

Morrill, of Vermont 157 

Davis, of Minnesota ._ 161 

Plati, of Connecticut __ 166 

CULLOM, of Illinois... . 175 

Mitchell, of Oregon _. . . 184 

■ L5d(¥e, of Massachusetts . 208 

Gali.incer, of New Hampshire 216 

Proceedings in the House of Representatives -__ 219 

Addre.ss of Mr. Blair, of New Hampshire 222 

EvERicrr, of Massachusetts 241 

Curtis, of New York 249 

Morse, of Massachu.setts __ . 253 

Bakkk, ..r New Il.-unp.-ihire 256 

3 






%° 



ACCEPTANCH OF THH STATl'lt 01- JOHN STARK. 



PROCEEDINGS IN THE SENATE. 



DECEMBER 3. 1894. 

:\rr. Chandler .submitted tlie follo\vinj,r resolution; whicii 
wa.s considered by unanimous consent, and agreed to: 

Resolved, That the exercises in the Senate in connection with the 
reception from the State of New Hampshire, for the National Gal- 
lery in the Capitol, of the statues of John Stark and Daniei, 
Webster be made a special order for Thursday, the 20th day of 
December. 

DECEMBER i8, 1894. 

-Mr. Ch.\ndler submitted the following resolution ; which 
was considered by unanimous consent, and agreed to: 

Resolved, That during the jiresent week the i>rivilege of the floor 
of the Senate be extended to the members of the council of the 
State of New Hampshire and to the members of the staff in attend- 
ance on the governor of New Hampshire in connection with the cer- 
emonies on the reception of the statues of J,)mn Stark and Daniel 
Webster. 

december 20. 1894. 
Mr. Chandler. :\Ir. President, to-day has been set aside 
by special order of the Senate for the presentation of the 



6 Proceedings in the Senate. 

statues of John Stark and Daniel Webster by the State 
of New Hampshire. I ask the presiding officer to la\- before 
the Senate a communication from his excellency the orov- 
ernor of New Hampshire. 

The President pro tempore. The Chair lays before the 
Senate a communication from his excellency the governor 
of the State of New Hampshire, which will be read. 

The Secretary read the communication, as follows: 

State of New Hampshire, Executive Department, 

Concord, December 5, 1894. 
Dear Sir: In accordance with an act passed at the biennial 
session of 1893, and in acceptance of the invitation contained in 
section eighteen hundred and fourteen of the Revised Statutes of 
the United States, the State of New Hampshire has placed in the 
National Statuary Hall in the Capitol at Washington two statues 
in marble — the one of John Siark, the other of Daniel Webster. 
The statues were modeled by Carl Conrads after statues in bronze 
now in the State House Park at Concord. The original of the 
Webster statue is by Ball, and was presented to the State by 
Benjamin Pierce Cheney. The original statue of Stark is by 
Conrads, and was erected by the State. 

In behalf of the State of New Hampshire I have the honor ot 
presenting these statues to the Congress of the United States. 
Very respectfully, 

John B. Smith, Governor. 
Hon. A. E. Stevenson, 

Vice-President and President of tlie Senate. 

The President pro tempore. The communication will 
lie on the table and be printed. 

STATUE OK JOHN STARK. 

Mr. Perkins. Mr. President, I offer the concurrent reso- 
lutions which I send to the desk, in relation to the com- 
munication which has just been read. 



Acceptance of iJie Statue of John Staik. 7 

The President pro tempore. The Secretary will read 
the concurrent resolutions submitted by the Senator from 
California. 

The Secretary read the concurrent resolutions, as follows: 

Resolved by the Senate {the House of Representatives concurring). 
That the thanks of Congress be given to the people of New Hamp- 
shire for the statue of John Stark, illustrious for military services, 
being especially distinguished at Bunker Hill and as the victorious 
commander at Bennington. 

Resolved, That the statue be accepted and placed in the National 
Statuary Hall, and that a copy of these resolutions, signed by the 
presiding officers of the Senate and House of Representatives, be 
forwarded to his excellency the governor of the State of New 
Hampshire. 

The Senate, by unanimous consent, proceeded to consider 
the concurrent resolutions. 



Address of Mr. Gallingcr on the 



ADDRESS OF MR. GALLINGER. 

Mr. President: John Stark, a marble statue of whom 
is to-day presented to Congress by the State of New Hamp- 
shire and unveiled in the National Statuary Hall, was born 
in Nutfield (now Londonderry), N. H., on the 28th day of 
August, 1728, and died in Manchester, N. H., on the 8th 
day of May, 1822, in the ninety-fourth year of his age. 

It is not an easy task to adequately and correctly portray 
the qualities and characteristics of this distinguished man. 
He was in many respects sui generis among the brave and 
patriotic men of his day and generation. Plain in appear- 
ance, awkward in manner, untrained in the arts of social 
life, uneducated and brusque, he nevertheless achieved un- 
dying fame, and the luster of his name will never grow dim 
so long as men love honesty, admire bravery, and recognize 
the grandeur of patriotic devotion to duty and to country. 
Indeed, the name of John Stark stands prominent, if not 
preeminent, among the greatest generals who fought under 
Washington. Edward Everett well said that, Washington 
out of the question, Stark rendered services not surpassed 
by any other leader in the army of the Revolution. Bold, 
aggressive, patriotic, and fearless, he was the inspiring 
spirit and directing genius of the American forces at Bunker 
Hill, Trenton, and Bennington. Others shared the dangers 
and the honors of those battles, but to Stark more than to 
any other one man is credit due for the splendid defense at 
Bunker Hill and the overwhelming victory at Bennington — 
the Gettysburg of the Revolution — which led up to the 



Acceptance of the Statue of Ja/in Stark. 9 

hanp>' consummation at York town of the long struggle for 
American independence. 

Archibald Stark, father of John Stark, was a native of 
Glasgow, Scotland, and was educated at the ancient univer- 
sity of that city. When quite young he emigrated to Lon- 
donderry, Ireland, where he married. Here he remained 
until twenty-five years of age, and in the year 1720 embarked 
for New Hampshii-e in company with numerous others. He 
had been preceded by a small party in 17 18, and was soon 
after followed by a large number of his countrymen. These 
emigrants were of pure Scotch-Irish blood, full of energy, 
enthusiasm, and cotirage. They were descended from the 
Scotch Presbyterians who established themselves in Ireland 
during the reign of James I. 

Holding to a belief that was not in harmony with the 
popular religion of either Ireland or England, and being 
strongly opposed to the system of tithes and rents then in 
vogue, these men determined to seek a home in America. 
The voyage proved to be one of great hardship and peril, as 
the vessel which brought over the emigrants had smallpox 
on board, from which disease Archibald Stark's children 
died on the voyage. When the vessel reached the shores 
of America the officers were refused permission to land 
in Boston, and wei'e compelled to depart for the wilds of 
Maine, where the first winter was passed on the banks of 
the Kennebec, near where Wiscasset was afterwards set- 
tled. The trials of a northern winter under such circum- 
stances must have been terrible, and during the next year, 
after encountering innumerable privations and hardships, 
they joined those who had preceded them from Ireland, 
at Xutfield, N. H., which was then a wilderness on the 



10 Address of Mr. Gallinger on the 

extreme frontier, where they were subject to freqtient incur- 
sions of hostile savages. Here a permanent and flourish- 
ing settlement was founded, which in 1722 took the name 
of Londonderry, in honor of the place in Ireland from 
which the}' emigrated. 

In 1736 the house of Archibald Stark was burned, and in 
consequence he removed to Derryfield (now Manchester), 
N. H., settling near the falls of the Amoskeag, on the 
Merrimack River, where he was soon followed by several of 
his countrymen from Londonderry. Here Archibald Stark 
lived until his death in 1758, a record of which can be found 
in the old burial ground in Manchester, the stone bearing 
this inscription: 

Here Lyes the Body of Mr. 

ARCHIBALD STARK. HE 

Departed This Life June 21th, 

1 7 58. Aged 61 years. 

Four sons were born to Archibald Stark in America, 
namely: William, John, Samuel, and Archibald. Each one 
of them held a commission in the British army, serving 
with distinction during the Seven Years or French war. 
William, the eldest, served with signal braver}^ and skill 
on the northern frontiers, and also under General Wolfe in 
the expeditions to Louisburg and Quebec. Afterwards, 
when the war of the Revolution was inaugurated, it is said 
that, hearing the guns of Bunker Hill at his home in Dun- 
barton, he hastened to Cambridge and tendered his services 
to the cause of independence. Being rejected, and inferior 
men put in command, in a moment of passion he tarnished 
his well-earned fame by accepting a connnission in the 



Acceptctncc of llic Sta/iic of John Stark. 1 1 

British army. He was soon afterwards killed by a fall 
from his horse. 

The ashes of John Stark, in whose memor}- these exer- 
cises are held, lie beneath ah obscure stone on historic 
ground on the eastern bank of the Merrimack River, in 
Manchester, bearing the simple inscription: "Major-Gen- 
eral Stark." The monument is a slender shaft of granite, 
seldom seen except by those who chance to pass the spot. A 
more pretentious recognition of the gratitude of the people 
of the State of his birth can be found in the State House 
Park, at Concord, where a bronze statue was erected to his 
memory by the State in the year 1890, and dedicated with 
great pomp and ceremony. The oration. on that occasion 
was delivered by Hon. James Willis Patterson, since de- 
ceased, at one time a distinguished member of this body, 
and whose ability and eloquence are remembered.with pride 
by the people of New Hampshire. And now, in further 
recognition of the State's appreciation of the remarkable 
services and extraordinary career of this great man, a mar- 
ble statue is added to the collection in the nation's Capitol, 
and we are here to-day to take appropriate notice of this 
important event. It is well thus to commemorate the deeds 
and virtues of heroes and statesmen, and on this point I 
venture to quote the eloquent words of the venerable and 
scholarly Moody Currier, ex-governor of New Hampshire, 
spoken on the occasion of the dedication of the statue of 
John St.\rk at the capitol of our State. Governor Currier 
said: 

The earlier records 01 the human race are written in stone. The 
first traces of civilization are gathered from the tablets and tomb- 
stones found in the mounds and drifting sands of Egyptian and 



12 Address of Mr. Gal linger on the 

Assyrian deserts. Antiquity has intrusted to marble and bronze the 
keeping of the sacred forms and features of its gods and men. TIuis 
the great events of the world, enshrined in imperishable forms by the 
skill of the painter and sculptor, become the permanent foundations 
of history, and the civilized nations of the earth have ever consid- 
ered it a sacred duty to erect statues and memorial monuments in 
honor of their heroes and benefactors, and to inscribe upon brass and 
upon stone the names and noble deeds of the men who have given 
their lives and fortunes to humanity. Those who have batded for 
liberty and human rights are justly entitled to the everlasting grati- 
tude of mankind. The divine instincts in man alone are immortal. 
Philanthropy, patriotism, and justice can never die; but the living 
countenance and distinguishing features of the great and the good 
may perish and be forgotten. The men of the Revolution have de- 
parted from our sight; their venerable forms no longer walk among 
us; but the memory of their heroic lives and public virtues still lin- 
gers in the minds of this generation. We owe it to ourselves, to those 
who shall live after us, and to the lovers of liberty throughout the 
world, to perpetuate the renown and valiant deeds of the heroes of 
the American Revolution. Monuments of bronze and of granite 
should lift their proud heads toward heaven in honor of their hero- 
ism and their victories, and their effigies should stand in our streets 
and in our public grounds, where, like the trophies of Miltiades. they 
will be a perpetual inspiration to the young men of our own and of 
all succeeding generations. 

Time will not permit of a full delineation of the adven- 
tures and great military achievements of Stark. A hur- 
ried sketch only will be attempted, many interesting 
incidents being necessarily omitted. In the twenty-fourth 
year of his age he left his home in company with his 
brother William and two other men and went on a hunting 
expedition to Baker's River (now Rumney), N. H., that 
section then being a wilderness, without a white inhabitant. 
To reach their destination they traveled long distances 
through an unbroken forest. While there St.\rk was 
taken prisoner by the Indians, and subsequently one of the 



Acceptance of the Statue of John Stark. 13 

party (Eastman) was caiDtured, one was killed by the sav- 
ages, and Stark's brother escaped. When the Indians 
undertook to capture his companions, Stark interfered in 
their behalf, showing great bravery, and for this he was 
beaten by the savages. After being kept in captivity for 
about two months he was taken to St. Francis, and here 
the two prisoners were compelled to run the gantlet, the 
Indian ceremony consisting of making their captives run 
between two lines of young warriors who were armed with 
rods and sometimes with deadly weapons, with which the 
captives were beaten. Death frequently resulted from the 
whippings thus inflicted. 

On this occasion Stark'.s companion was severely 
beaten, but St.\rk had no intention of tamely submitting 
to such indignities. As he approached the line of warriors, 
with their uplifted rods and bludgeons, he coolh" snatched 
a club from the nearest one and started down the line 
swinging the club in rapid circles about his head. He 
dealt far more blows than he received, and scattered the 
warriors before him. The old chiefs, who, as was their 
custom on such occasions, sat at a distance watching the 
ceremony, greatly enjoyed the discomfiture of the young 
braves, and instead of further punishing Stark seemed to 
admire him for his reckless braver\-. 

Stark proved to be a rather troublesome captive. When 
ordered to hoe corn, he cut it up by the roots and left the 
weeds undisturbed, and when still further pressed threw 
his hoe into the river, saying that it was t!ie business of 
.squaws, not of warriors, to hoe corn, thus giving e.xpres- 
.sion to the Indian idea of tlie la1)or question. Instead of 
being angry with him, the Indians seemed pleased, and 



14 Address of Mr. G ailing er on the 

proposed to adopt him into their tribe as a young chief. 
He was siibsequently redeemed by certain agents who were 
sent from Massachusetts to Montreal to look after captives 
from that State, being returned to New Hampshire by way 
of Albany. Stark's ransom was one hundred and three 
dollars, while the savages asked but sixty dollars for 
Eastman. Stark repaid his ransom the next year by 
money received for furs which he gathered on the Andros- 
coggin River, whither he went for that purpose. 

This was the beginning of Stark's adventurous career, 
and the knowledge he thus gained of the manners and 
customs of the Indians was of great advantage to him after- 
wards. 

From 1754 (when the Seven Years war really com- 
menced) to 1758 Stark was continually engaged in im- 
portant military duty, being recognized as a fighter of rare 
skill and courage. He rendered conspicuous service in the 
defense of Fort William Henry, which was at that time one 
of the two most northerly posts of the British dominions in 
North America. After the unfortunate attack upon Fort 
Ticonderoga, in July, 1758, where he displayed great gal- 
lantry and where Lord Howe lost his life, he returned to 
New Hampshire 'on furlough, and on the 20th of August 
of that year was married to Elizabeth, daughter of Capt. 
Caleb Page, one of the original proprietors of the township 
of Dunbarton, N. H. 

In the spring of 1759 Stark enlisted a new company and 
aided in the reduction of Ticonderoga and Crown Point. 
During the campaign of that year he rendered valuable 
service, but the capitulation of Canada ended, for the time 
being, military operations in America. As a consequence 



Acceptance of the Staliic of John Stark. 1 5 

he returned to his home, busying liimself in agricniltiiral 
pursuits and in the management of liis mills. He was also 
engaged in founding a new township, which was first called 
Starkstown and afterwards Dunbarton, the latter designa- 
tion being from the town and castle in Scotland of that 
name. From this time he warmly espoused the cause of 
the colonists, and from his varied military experience was 
thoroughly equipped to take a prominent part in the war 
which ensued between Great Britain and her North Ameri- 
can possessions. 

When the news of the shedding of blood at Lexington 
and Concord, on the 19th of April, 1775, reached Stark, he 
was busy in his sawmill. His memoirs, written b)' his son, 
Caleb Stark, record the fact that he immediately quit work, 
went to his house, a mile distant, changed his clothes, 
mounted a horse, and without further formalities started 
for the scene of hostilities. Along the route he encour- 
aged the people to volunteer, assuring them that the time 
had come to do battle for the liberties of the country. 
About twelve hundred citizens of the New Hampshire 
towns bordering on Massachusetts abandoned their pursuits 
and followed their patriotic leader to Medford, where 
Stark was elected colonel of the First New Hampshire 
Regiment. Thirteen full companies were soon secured, 
which, by action of the provincial congress of New Hamp- 
shire, were shortly afterwards increased to two thousand 
men, out of which three regiments were formed. 

()n the 17th day of June, 1775, the battle of Bunker 
Hill was fought, and the war of the Revolution com- 
menced in earnest. 



l(i Address o; Mr. (falling cr on tlie 

This is neither the time nor the place to discuss the ques- 
tion as to the relative strength of the New Hampshire and 
Massachusetts forces engaged in that contest. The people 
of New Hampshire believe that theii State furnished the 
larger part of them. However that may be, it is sufficient 
for our purpose to know that John Stark was there, full 
of courage and patriotic ambition. The New Hampshire 
regiments constituted the left wing of the American line. 
Opposed to them were the Welsh Fusileers, which were 
regarded as the finest light infantry regiment in the British 
army. They attacked the New Hampshire troops impetu- 
oush', but were repulsed in a manner reflecting great credit 
upon the raw recruits who fought under Stark. Address- 
ing his men, Stark told them that the eyes of the world 
were on them, and that the cause of freedom was intrusted 
to their hands. By his fiery language he roused them to a 
high pitch of excitement. 

Just before the battle. General Gage, surveying the scene 
from the cupola of the Province House, was asked whether 
he thought tlie Americans would await the assault of the 
royal troops, when lie replied: " Yes, if one John Stark is 
there, for he is a brave fellow. ' ' General Gage had seen him 
fight on the shores of Lake George, and knew that no man 
was truer or braver than he. Fortunateh- for the cause of 
independence, "one John Stark" was there, and he fought 
desperately and well. Taking a stake in his hand, he de- 
liberately walked in front of his line thirt\- or fort}- yards, 
where, planting the stake in the ground, he directed his 
soldiers to reserve tlieir fire until the enemy reached the 
stake, threatening to shoot an\- man who disobeyed. Tlie 
order was obeyed. The British soldiery advanced full of 



Acceptance of the Statue of Jo/iii Starl: 17 

confidence. When they reached the stake, a deadly volley 
was fired from behind the rail fence, fortified by a breast- 
work of new-mown grass, where Stark's men had been 
massed, before which the trained battalions of the British 
arm\- melted awa\'. Three charges of the British troops 
were repnlsed, but tlie fourth assault drove back the Ameri- 
can forces, and Stark's troops were withdrawn from the 
field without pursuit. .\s illustrating Stark's true char- 
acter, the incident may be cited that in the very midst of 
the fight he was told that his sou was killed. "If he is," 
said the brave man, "it is no time for private griefs when 
the enemy is in front;" and he ordered the man back to 
his post. Fortunately, the report was erroneous, and his 
son served throughout the entire war. 

St.\rk, with his brave followers, took post on Winter 
Hill after the battle, and when the evacuation of Boston 
was effected he was ordered to proceed to New York. From 
this point he was sent to join the army in Canada, but while 
on his way he met the American forces at St. Johns in full 
retreat. W^hile he opposed making the disastrous attack on 
Three Rivers, he nevertheless energetically entered into it 
when it had been resolved upon. The army retreated to 
Ticonderoga, at which place the Declaration of Independence 
was read to the troops. In December Stark's regiment was 
ordered to reenforce General Washington on the right bank 
of the Delaware. The American cause was enveloped in 
gloom at this juncture, and Washington realized the neces- 
sity of striking a decisive blow. The time had come for 
desperate action, and beyond a doubt Washington felt that 
the fate of the great cause for which he was struggling 
depended upon the result of this experiment. The river 



18 Address of Mr. GaUiiigcr on the 

was crossed, and momentous consequences depended upon 
the next military movement. It was first contemplated to 
attack all the British posts on the left bank of the Dela- 
ware, but the inclemency of the weather rendered this 
impossible. Instead, the attack was made upon Trenton, 
which was entirely successful. 

In this battle Stark was a conspicuous figure. It is said 
that the New Hampshire troops under him displayed great 
gallantry. General Sullivan, writing home to Meshech 
Weare, said: 

You may want to knou- how your men fight. I will tell you, 
exceedingly well. * * * Believe me, sir, the Yankees took 
Trenton before the other troops knew anything of the matter; 
more than that, there was an engagement, and, what will surprise 
you still more, the line that attacked the town consisted of eight 
hundred Yankees, and there were one thousand six hundred Hes- 
sians to oppose them. 

Such was the record of New Hampshire men at Trenton. 
Their regiments were scarcely more than remnants. They 
had seen hard and discouraging work all through the preced- 
ing summer. They gained the admiration of Washington 
to such a degree that Sullivan wrote in the same letter: 

General Washington made no scruple to say publicly that the rem- 
nant of the Eastern regiments were the strength of his army, though 
their numbers, comparatively speaking, are but small. He calls them 
in front when the enemy are there ; he sends them to the rear when 
the enemy threatens that way. 

As the hour for the battle of Trenton approached Colonel 
Stark addressed General Washington, and said: "Your 
men have long been accustomed to place dependence upon 
spades and pickaxes for safety. If vou ever mean to estab- 
lish the independence of the United States you must teach 



Acceptance of the Statue of John Stark. 19 

them to rely upon their firearms and their courage." It 
was a bold speech, doubtless intended to suggest that real 
battles should now take the place of the war of posts and 
intrenchments which had been fought. General Washing- 
ton is said to have promptly replied: "This is what we 
have agreed upon: We are to march to-morrow upon 
Trenton. You are to command the right wing of the 
advance guard and General Greene the left." Stark'.s 
reply was characteristic: "I could not have been assigned 
to a more acceptable position." 

After the battle of Trenton Stark accompanied Wash- 
ington when he again crossed the Delaware, and was with 
him at the battle of Princeton. Before this battle the 
period of enlistment of the men under Stark had expired, 
but he persuaded them to reenlist for si.x weeks, which 
every man of them did. Considering the critical affairs of 
the country at that time, this was a most important service, 
which Stark's great personal influence over his men ac- 
complished. It is said that he earnestly appealed to the 
patriotism of the men of the granite hills who composed 
the New Hampshire regiments. He reminded them of 
their valor at Bunker Hill and elsewhere, and told them 
that if they left the army all might be lost. Finallv, in 
the spirit of patriotism for which he was so distinguished, 
he assured them that if Congress did not pay them their 
arrears it should be made up to them from his own private 
property. 

When the six weeks had expired. Stark returned to New 
Hampshire to recruit another regiment, and in March, 1777, 
the new regiment was full and ready for service. He 
repaired to Exeter to receive instructions, when he learned 



20 Address of Mr. Gallingcr on thi 

that through the influence of certain army officers and 
members of Congress a new list of promotions had been 
made out by Congress, in which his name did not appear. 
This was an act of such great injustice that Stark resigned 
his commission, saying to Generals vSullivan and Poor, who 
begged him to remain with the army, that an officer who 
would not maintain his rank was unworthy to serve his 
country. He advised his fellow-officers of the dangerous 
situation of Ticonderoga, and expressed his willingness to 
reenter the service when he could do so honorably. He 
retired to his Xew Hampshire estate, his letter of resigna- 
tion being as follows: 

To the honorable the cjuncll and house of representatives 

for the State of New Hampshire, in general court assembled. 
Gentlemen: Ever since hostilities commenced I have, so far as 
in me lay, endeavored to prevent my country from being ravaged 
and enslaved by our cruel and unnatural enemy. I have undergone 
the hardships and fatigues of two campaigns with cheerfulness and 
alacrity, ever enjoying the pleasing satisfaction that I was doing 
my God and country the greatest service my abilities would admit of, 
and it was with the utmost gratitude that I accepted the important 
command to which this State appointed me. I should have served 
with the greatest pleasure, more especially at this important crisis, 
when our country calls for the utmost exertions of every American; 
but am extremely grieved that I am in honor bound to leave the 
service, Congress having thought proper to promote junior officers 
over my head; .so that lest I should show myself unworthy of the 
honor conferred on me, and a want of that spirit which ought to 
glow in the breast of every officer appointed by this honorable house 
in not suitably resenting an indignity, I must (though grieved to 
leave the service of my country) beg leave to resign ray commission, 
hoping that you will make choice of some gentleman who may 
honor the cause and his country to succeed 
Your most obliged, humble servant, 

John Stark. 



Acceptance of the Statue of John Stark. 21 

Notwithstanding his resignation, the intense patriotism 
of Stark found expression in the fitting ont of all his fam- 
ily and servants capable of bearing arms and sending them 
to the front. 

When the letter of resignation had been received, the 
council and house of delegates of Nev/ Hampshire passed 
the following vote on the 21st day of March, 1777, Colonel 
Stark being called before the assembh- when the action 
was taken: 

Voted, That the thanks of both houses, in convention, be given to 
Colonel Stark for his good services in the present war, and that, from 
his eady and.steadfast attachment to the cause of his country, they 
make not the least doubt that his future conduct, in whatever state ot 
life Providence may place him, will manifest the same noble dispo- 
sition of mind. 

There can be no doubt that Stark's resignation from 
the army was a severe blow to the cause for which he had 
done such valiant battle. American independence was 
never expo.sed to a more doubtful otitcome than at this 
period. The British Government had become fulh' awake 
to the danger of losing her American colonies, and arms and 
men were abundantly supplied. Washington was driven 
from post to post; Philadelphia was taken by the British, 
from which place Congress fled ; a strong army was march- 
ing from Canada, threatening a junction with the forces 
of Burgoyne, which were gradually but surely closing 
in upon Vermont, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire. 
The outlook was desperate. New Hampshire had done all 
that she could, and, as public credit was at a low ebb, it was 
doubtful if another single regiment could be supported. 
The authorities of \'ermont had notified New Hampshire 



22 Address of Mr. Gallinger on the 

that unless speed\- assistance was forthcoming they must 
abandon the contest. The New Hampshire assembly, 
which had adjourned only a short time before, was speedily 
convened, and the condition of the country presented to 
them. At this important crisis John Langddn, a merchant 
of Portsmouth and speaker of the assembly, came to the 
rescue in these patriotic words: 

I have three thousand dollars in hard money. I will pledge my 
plate for three thousand more. I have seventy hogsheads of 
Tobago rum, which shall be sold for the most it will bring. These are 
at the service of the State. If we succeed in defending our fire- 
sides and homes, I may be remunerated; if we do not, the property 
will be of no value to me. Our old friend Stark, who so nobly 
maintained the honor of our State at Bunker Hill, may be safely 
intrusted with the conduct of the enterprise, and we will check the 
progress of Burgoyne. 

As can readily Ise imagined, this generous proposal gave 
new life to the cause of the struggling colonists. Rally- 
ing around their favorite leader, the entire militia of the 
State was formed in two brigades — one to be commanded 
by John Stark and the other by William Whipple. 

In this connection an event occurred which, while ap- 
pearing insubordinate, demonstrated alike Stark's wisdom 
and independence. Smarting under the wrong done him 
by Congress, he accepted command of the New Hampshire 
troops with the understanding that he should control his 
own movements and be wholly accountable to the author- 
ities of the State. His commission authorized him to take 
command of the militia and to act in conjunction with the 
troops from New Hampshire or those from any other State 
or of the United States, as it should appear expedient to 
him. Stark knew that large militarv stores had been 



Acceptance of the Statue of John Stark. 23 

accumulated at Bennington, \'t., and had learned that 
General Burgoyne had dispatched a force under Colonel 
Baum and Colonel Breyman to capture them. He resolved 
to go to the defense of this important point and realized 
that he must act promptly. At this moment General 
Schuyler ordered Stark to lead his troops to the Hudson 
to be placed under general orders. 

His reply was a refusal to do so, because of tlie danger- 
ous consequences that might ensue from the invasion 
of Vermont, which reph- was sent to Congress. That 
body condemned his action, declaring the instructions he 
received from the council of New Hampshire "destructive 
of military subordination and highly prejudicial to the 
co'.nmon cause." wSt.-vrk hurried his troops toward Ben- 
nington, and they did not get to the scene of hostilities 
any too soon. The troops under St.\rk numbered about 
one thousand seven hundred and fifty men, at least one 
thousand of whom were from New Hampshire. Opposed 
to him was a force of \-eteran soldiers, commanded by 
Colonel Baum, a man of military learning and experience, 
who had a battery j^osted upon a commanding position. 
Tlie American troops had no cannon and scarce a bayonet. 

The battle was fought several miles from Bennington, on 
New York soil. At three o'clock in the afternoon Stark 
gave the order to ad\-ance, and the contest began, which 
lasted two hours. Whether or not he pointed to the enemy 
with liis sword and said, as tradition has it, "See there, 
men! there are the redcoats; before night the\- are ours, or 
Molly Stark's a widow," it is certain that this brave com- 
mander engaged in the contest with a reckless courage 
worth)- of the greatest of the world's heroes. The battle 



24 Address of Mr. Galliiigcr on the 

was a terrific one for those days, described by Stark in his 
dispatches as "the hottest I ever saw. It was like one con- 
tinued clap of thunder. ' ' Stark's horse was shot under him, 
and then, with his drawn sword, he marched through the 
thinned ranks of his brave followers, urging them on to the 
final assault. Vainly did the German dragoons endeavor to 
withstand the attack. They were trained soldiers and had 
fought before. Throwing awa\- their muskets, with drawn 
sabers they rushed upon the American lines. A terrible 
volley met them and their line was shattered to pieces. 
" Over the cannon and over the breastwork the excited, 
maddened, shouting Americans go, in one overwhelming 
stream, and the field is won." 

After the battle the American troops scattered, and word 
was brought that Colonel Breymaii was approaching with a 
large British reenforcement. He had intended to join his 
troops with those of Colonel Baum, but the bad condition 
of the roads had prevented. Fully realizing the danger, 
Stark hastened to rally his men. The defeated troops of 
Colonel Baum, such of them as had not been taken pris- 
oners, joined the forces of Colonel Breyman. The fresh 
troops of the British made a furious assault upon the 
disorganized American forces, driving them from point to 
point, and threatening to reverse the victory that had been 
won. At the critical moment Colonel Warner's regiment 
appeared upon the scene and bravely entered the fight. The 
result was magical. The British troops were again repulsed, 
and the day, fraught with such tremendous consequences, 
was finally won. Colonel Baum, a brave officer, was fatally 
wounded in the first engagement, and under cover of dark- 
ness Colonel Breyman effected his escape with such remnant 



Accep/ancc of ike Statue of John Stark. 25 

of his command as had survived the terrible onslaught of 
the American troops. This double victory resulted in the 
capture of many prisoners, and also of one thousand stand 
of arms, two hundred and fifty sabers, eight loads of army 
supplies, four ammunition wagons, twenty horses, and four 
bronze cannon, one of which was of the finest possible rtlan- 
ufacture, and was afterwards known as the " Molly Stark." 
It is said that Colonel Baum, when being carried from the 
field, said that the American troops fought more like fiends 
than soldiers. 

While the battle of Bennington, in these days of modern 
warfare, would be regarded as a trivial affair, when we con- 
sider the circumstances under which it was fought it was a 
great and decisive battle. It furnished one of the most 
conspicuous e.xamples of untrained militia accomplishing 
all that could possibly be expected of veteran troops. The 
hardy yeomanry of New Hampshire, Vermont, and IMassa- 
chusetts, many of them fresh from the farm and unused to 
military life, "advanced," as General Stark felicitously 
expressed it in his official letter, "through fire and smoke, 
and ^mounted breastworks that were well fortified arid de- 
fended with cannon." The battle was as well planned and 
fought as it could have been by the best military science and 
talent of Europe, and this brilliant victory, from its incep- 
tion to its achievement, was the work of John Stark. To 
the council of New Hampshire Stark said in his report: 
"Our people behaved with the greatest spirit and bravery 
imaginable. Had they been Alexanders or Charleses of 
Sweden they could not have behaved better." 

As showing the importance of this battle, Washington 
said, on learning the tidings: "One more such stroke and 



26 Address of Mr. Gallinger on the 

we shall have no great cause for anxiety as to the future 
designs of Britain." The "one more stroke," in the sur- 
render of Burgoyne, came sooner than Washington prob- 
ably anticipated. 

It is a singular bit of history that three days after the 
battle of Bennington (the news not having then reached 
the seat of Government) Congress passed the resolution 
censuring Stark for not having submitted to the army 
regulations. 

When the resolution was presented, a New Hampshire 
member warmly declared that he believed the first battle of 
the North would be fought by Stark and his troops, and 
that, notwithstanding the disrespectful things that had 
been said of this great soldier, he should not be afraid to 
risk his honor or his life on a wager that Stark'. s men 
would do as much as any other equal number of troops 
toward the defense of the country. The very next day 
news of the victory reached Congress, when, on motion 
of Mr. Bland, of Virginia, a resolution was passed declar- 
ing that the thanks of Congress be presented to General 
Stark, of the New Hampshire militia, and the officers and 
troops under his command lor their brave and successful 
attack upon and signal victory over the enemy in their 
lines at Bennington, and that he be appointed a brigadier- 
general in the Army of the United States. Only one meni- 
ber of Congress voted against the resolution, and thus was 
Stark's apparent insubordination recognized by Congress 
as an act of wisdom/ and good sense. 

Slighted as he thought himself to have been by Congress, 
it was characteristic of St.ark to neglect to inform that 
body of his victory, and the prompt recognition of the 



Acceptance of the Slatne of John Stark. 21 

services he had rendered must have been to him a source of 
profound satisfaction. He had disapproved, on the sound- 
est of military principles, General Schuyler's plan of the 
campaign, and his success justified the apparent want of 
respect for his superior officer. Certain it is that Washing- 
ton never called him to account for his refusal to leave 
Bennington exposed to the invasion of the British army. 

It is unnecessary to follow in detail the further militarj' 
career of General Stark. Suffice it to say that during the 
remainder of the war he had the fullest confidence of the 
commander-in-chief of the army and of Congress. He was 
present at the battle of Springfield, N. J., in June, 17S0. 
He then returned to New England and enlisted a body of 
volunteers, which he conducted to West Point, after which 
he again went to New Jersey. He was a member of the 
military tribunal at West Point which tried and convicted 
Major Andre. He was next sent by Washington with two 
thousand five hundred troops to surprise the British on 
Staten Island. In the spring of 1781 he assumed command 
of the northern department, with headquarters at Saratoga, 
and while there learned of the surrender of Cornwallis. In 
April, 1783, he was ordered to headquarters by General 
Washington, and recei\-ed the warm thanks of the com- 
mander-in-chief 

In 1786 he received the rank of major-general by brevet, 
in pursuance of an act of Congress passed September 30, 
1783. When the war terminated, he returned to his New 
Hampshire home and quietly resumed agricultural pursuits. 
He lived forty-five years after the battle of Bennington, 
surviving all the oflScers of equal rank in the American 
armv. He lived to see the countr\- for which he had so 



28 Address of J/r. Galliitgcr on the 

valiantly fought become strong and prosperous, and he 
gloried in her independence and power. It is said that for 
many 3^ears before his death he had become a privileged 
character in the community in which he lived, many 
strangers calling on him, and the most eminent men in 
the country showing him respect. Among his effects were 
letters from Jefferson and Madison, who seemed to take a 
great interest in the venerable hero. 

Finally, broken down by age and physical infirmities, he 
quietly and uncomplainingly awaited the final summons. 
He was, in the truest and best sen.se, a grand old man, and 
well might it have been said of him — 

.■\.s the proud oak that braves the pelting storm, 
Unbroke, unbent, though lightnings play sublime; 

Though ninety years have marked thy war-worn form, 
Thou stand'st alone amid the march of time. 

First in the list where warring champions stood, 
Whose freeborn spirits brooked no sceptereii lord, 

Thy deeds of fame were writ in tyrants' blood. 
And freedom blessed thy ever-conquering sword. 

On the jth day of November, 1S49, ^ festival of the sons 
of New Hampshire resident in Massachusetts was held in 
Boston. Many gentlemen of distinction were present, 
among them being Mr. Justice Woodbury, of the Supreme 
Court of the United States; Hon. John P. Hale, of the 
United States Senate; Chief Justice Parker, of the Law 
School at Cambridge, and Daniel Webster. .Mr. Webster 
made two addresses on that occasion, in the first of which he 
made the following interesting reference to General Stark: 

It was in this discipline; it was in these Indian wars; it was espe- 
cially in the war of 1756 against the French, in which almost every 
man in New Hampshire capable of bearing arms took part; it 



Acceptance of the Staliie of John Stark. 29 

was here that the military spirit of the country, the bravery, the 
gallantry of these mountain inhabitants were all called forth. They 
were a people given to the chase and to the hunt in times of peace, 
fitted for endurance and danger, and when war came they were ready 
to meet it. It was in the midst of these vicissitudes that they were 
formed to hardihood and enterprise and trained to military skill and 
fearlessness. 

As one example out of many, I might refer to Gen. John Stark, 
well known for his military achievements in all the wars of his time; 
a hunter in peace, a soldier in war, and as a soldier always among 
the foremost and bravest; and since he is brought to my remem- 
brance, let me divell upon the recollection for a moment. 

General St.^rk was my neighbor, the neighbor and friend of my 
father. One in a highly important, the other in a less distinguished 
situation, they had seen military service together, and had met the 
enemy in the same field. It was in the decline of Stark's life, com- 
paratively speaking, that the Revolutionary war broke out. He en- 
tered into it, however, with all the manliness and all the fervor of his 
youthful character. Yet in his advanced age, like other old men, he 
turned back fondly to earlier scenes ; and when he spoke of the " war" 
he always meant the old French and Indian war. His remem- 
brances were of Canada; of the e.xploits at Crown Point, and Ticon- 
deroga, and Lake George. He seemed to think of the Revolution as 
only a family quarrel, in which, nevertheless, he took a warm and de- 
cided part; but he preferred to talk of the "war" in which he was 
taken by the Indians, as he was more than once, I think, and carried 
to Canada. The last time I saw him he was seated around a social 
fire with his neighbors. As I entered he greeted me, as he always 
did, with affection; and I believe he complimented me on my com- 
plexion, which he said was like my father's; and his was such, he 
said, that no one could tell whether he was covered with powder or 
not. The conversation turned, like other conversations among coun- 
try neighbors, upon this man's condition and that man's condition, 
the property of one and the property of another, and how much 
each was worth. At last, rousing himself from an apparent slum- 
ber, he said, "Well, 1 never knew but once what I was worth. In 
the war the Indians took me and carried me to Canada and sold me 
to the French for forty pounds; and, as they say a thing is worth what 
it will fetch, I suppose I was worth forty pounds." 



30 Address of Mr. Galliiiger on the 

In brief, I have given an imperfect outline of the career 
of this great man. His son describes him as having been 
of middle stature, well proportioned for strength and activ- 
ity. He always rode on horseback, even if accompanied by 
his family in a carriage, and at an advanced age mounted 
his horse with ease without other aid than the stirrup. His 
features were bold and prominent; the nose was well formed; 
the eyes light blue, keen, and piercing, deeply sunk under 
projecting brows. His lips were generally closely com- 
pressed. His hair, which was abundant, became white. 
His whole appearance indicated courage, activity, and 
confidence in himself 

Edward Everett truthfully said of Stark that his char- 
acter was one of original strength and resource. He 
would have risen to consequence and authority however 
rude and uncivilized the community into which he might 
have been thrown; and had he been trained in discipline 
and enjoyed the opportunities of the great armies of Europe 
his name would have reached posterity as a military chief- 
tain of the first rank. 

General Stark was a man of strong individuality, and, 
although blunt and firm, had a kindness of heart that made 
him popular with his troops and gathered around him a 
host of friends. He was exceedingly generous and hospi- 
table, and sustained a reputation for strict integrity. He 
was an honest and useful citizen and a faithful and daunt- 
less soldier. The historian Headley declares him to have 
been independent and fearless, yielding to neither friend 
nor foe. 

In earh- life he was an adventurous woodsmm, in man- 
hood a bold ranger, and in mature years an able and skillful 



Acceptance of the Statue of Joint Stark. 31 

military commander, passing through his long and remark- 
able career without a blemish on his name. His life was 
marked by great adventure and peril, and, while expos- 
ing himself in battle with reckless daring, he came out of 
the war without a scratch or a wound. He exercised 
wonderful power over his troops. They loved and trusted 
him always, following him without question wherever he 
led, meeting the enemy with the steadiness and determina- 
tion of veterans. Admiring the stern and resolute char- 
acter of Charles XH, St.\RK made the history of tlie 
achievements of that brave ruler the guide and inspiration 
of his own campaigns. 

Trusted alike by Washington and the people of his 
State, he never failed to respond to the call of duty wher- 
ever it led. His patriotism was as boundless as his nature 
was intense. He loved his State and his countr\-, but 
he loved liberty better than all. Amid the gloom and 
despondency of the darkest days of that heroic struggle his 
vision discerned a victorious ending. Eighty-four years of 
age when the second war with Great Britain commenced, 
he longed for the energy of youth that he might engage in 
the strife, and chafed under the burdens that kept him 
from again serving his country. 

It is said that when he was told that the British cannon 
which he captured at Bennington were among the trophies 
surrendered by Hull at Detroit he manifested great emotion 
and mourned for "my guns," as he was in the habit of 
calling them. Associated as they were with one of the 
most brilliant events of his life, they liad l^ecome a part of 
his existence, and it seemed to him in his old age like 



32 Address of Mr. Gallingcr on the 

robbery to take away these inonuinents of his well-earned 
military reputation. 

Sir, the fame of John Stark is a heritage not alone to 
the State of his birth, but to all the people of this great 
nation, and it is safe to assume that among the great 
heroes of the Revolution and the incorruptible patriots of 
all ages his name will forever live, to be recalled by the 
lovers of liberty with gratitude and pride. 



Acceptance of the Statue of John Stark. 33 



Address of Mr. Proctor. 



Mr. President: It has been said that Stark was only 
a partisan leader — of the highest type to be sure. He was 
a partisan leader only when the times and circumstances 
required partisan warfare. He was a natural leader of men 
wherever he might be, whether in the hunter's camp, on 
the Indian trail, in the frontier settlement, or in the coun- 
cils of organized armies. Even when held a prisoner by 
the Indians he so won their respect by his strong personal- 
ity that he was adopted by their tribe as a young chieftain. 
The high estimate in which he was held by trained soldiers 
is an evidence that they considered him their equal at least 
in natural ability. Lord Howe, Amherst, Abercrombie, as 
well as the colonial officers, were his friends while he was 
yet a young subaltern in the Seven Years war with France. 
Lord Howe was so favorably impressed with him that the 
night before that officer was killed he invited Stark to 
dine with him in his tent, and consulted him as to the dis- 
positions for the attack on Ticonderoga the following da^^ V C-' -'■ ^ ''^ -^^ Y^^^ 

If he had served in great armies, with the opportuuYt^es a nn^^^-TT. ^ 
for training and experience which sucli service affords, )je o^D vjC 

would still have been in the front rank. Whenever hjs%/j>£-. cn\lC,('3^^ 
field broadened he proved himself equal to its requirements. " "^■^^Tri.ii^sw**^'^ 
He was more than a partisan when he held the left of the 
line at Bunker Hill, or when in command at Bennington. 
All in all he is an excellent representative of the best tvpe 
of our country's pioneer leaders. New Hampshire, there- 
fore, fitly selects him as one of the two from that State to 
3 s— w 



34 Address of Mr. Proctor on the 

be honored by statues in this Capitol. Vermont gladly 
joins in doing him honor, for his most distinguished public 
services are a part of her early history. I shall confine 
my brief remarks, therefore, to that portion of his career 
which is especially identified with Vermont. 

The scene of his greatest exploits was along Lake Cham- 
plain, its tributary, Lake George, and the upper waters of 
the Hudson. It is a historic battle ground. From our 
earliest knowledge of it and from still earlier tradition it 
had been the scene of many bloody conflicts between the 
tribes of the St. Lawrence and those of the Mohawk val- 
leys. So fierce and constant had been this warfare that, not- 
withstanding its natural advantages for Indian habitation, 
no tribe had attempted to occupy it permanently. It had 
been debatable ground from the earliest times, and so 
continued after the French settlement of Canada and the 
English colonization farther south. The Iroquois name 
for Lake Champlain was "The Gate of the Country," and 
so unmistakably has nature made it the gateway between 
the original French and English colonies, between Canada 
and the States, that all authorities agree and recent British 
military writers have said that in case of a war between the 
two countries its operations must follow the line of the 
Indian trail and bark canoe of two hundred years ago. 
The names of Champlain, Fronteuac, Montcalm, Baron 
Dieskau, Lord Howe, Amherst, Abercrombie, Johnson, 
Putnam, Williams, Rogers, Ethan Allen, Stark, Gates, 
Arnold, Burgoyne, and McDonough, so intimately asso- 
ciated with this section, establish its claim to historic inter- 
est. Here Stark served his military apprenticeship. In 
1754 he was lieutenant in Colonel Blanchard's regiment, 



Acceptance of the Statue of John Stark. 35 

and afterwards in Rogers's rangers. At Crown Point, 
Ticonderoga, Fort William Henr}', and in many minor bnt 
desperate engagements, he did valiant service. With his 
rangers he built a road through the wilderness of Vermont 
for eighty miles, from Charlestown Number Four to Crown 
Point, to enable New England troops to cross from the 
Connecticut River to Lake Champlain. 

At Bunker Hill he commanded a regiment of minute- 
men, and in the New Jersey campaign he took an active 
part. But it was reserved for him to perform the most 
conspicuous service in the vicinity of Lake Champlain, 
which had been tlie scene of his earlier military exploits. 

It is upoi^ his success at Bennington more than all else 
that Stark's fame must rest. Here for the first time he 
was in command of an army, small though it was, hastily 
gathered and poorly equipped, but composed of earnest 
and determined men, fighting for home and country. The 
importance of the engagement can not be'measured by the 
number of men engaged. Burgoyne's march from Canada 
along the Champlain route had been so far one of uninter- 
rupted success. England was confident that his campaign 
would close the rebellion. Burke, in the Annual Register 
for 1777, thus describes the situation: 

Such was the rapid torrent ot success which swept everything 
away before the northern army in its onset. It is not to be won- 
dered at if both officers and private men were highly elated with their 
good fortune, and deemed that and their prowess to be irresistible; 
if they regarded their enemy with the greatest contempt; considered 
their own toils to be neady at an end ; Albany to be already in their 
hands, and the reduction of the northern provinces to be rather a mat- 
ter of some time than an arduous task full 01 difficulty and danger. 

At home the joy and exultation was extreme ; not only at court, 
but with all those who hoped or wished the unqualified subjugation 



36 Address of Mr. Proctor on the 

and unconditional submission of the colonies. The loss of repu- 
tation was greater to the Americans, and capable of more fatal con- 
sequences, than even that of ground, of posts, of artillery, or of 
men. * * * 

It was not difficult to diffuse an opinion that the war in effect was 
over, and that any further resistance could serve only to render the 
terms of their submission the worse. Such were some of the imme- 
diate effects of the loss of the grand keys of North America — 
Ticonderoga and the lakes. 

Bennington was a well-planned and well-fought battle. 
But there were other reasons which contributed to our suc- 
cess. The men knew their general ; he knew his men. 
Many of St.\rk'.s troops at Bennington had served with 
him in the previous war. Vermont had been slower of 
settlement than her adjoining New England States on 
account of her exposure to border warfare and the incursion 
of French and Indians from Canada. In the Seven Years 
war the soldiers of Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New 
Hampshire had crossed and recrossed " The Wilderness," 
as the State was then called, in their campaigns on Lake 
Champlain and Lake George. They had noticed that its 
lands were rich, and with the fall of Quebec hastened to 
take them up under the New Hampshire- grants, so that 
many of the settlers were men who had served with Stark 
in the French war. 

The men of New Hampshire and Massachusetts who 
joined them were their kinsmen and friends. There was 
entire harmou}- ; no discord or jealousy. Stark was at 
once comrade and commander — comrade by virtue of his 
long service in their border warfare as a scout, subaltern, 
and captain, and by reason of his simple life as a citizen 
and his plain, unassuming ways ; commander by his inborn 



Acceptance oj the Statue of John Stark. 37 

right to lead and his long and successful experience as a 
soldier. 

Warner, the colonel of one of the Vermont regiments, 
was his trusted counselor and lieutenant, and his regiment 
turned the tide of battle at a critical moment. After 
St.\rk's forces, with desperate valor, had driven and scat- 
tered the British troops they fell into disorder, rejoicing and 
gathering plunder. General Stark, in his report to the 
New Hampshire legislature, says: 

Before I could get them into proper order I received intelligence 
that there was a large reenforcement within two miles on their 
march, which occasioned us to renew our attack. But, luckily for 
us, Colonel Warner's regiment came up. which put a stop to their 
career. 

Creasy, the foremost of military critics, says of Bur- 
goyne's plan of campaign that — 

without question it was ably formed, and had the success of the 
execution been equal with the ingenuity of the design the reconquest 
of the thirteen United States must in all human probability have 
failed, and the independence which they proclaimed in 1776 would 
have been extinguished before it had existed a second year. No 
European power had as yet come forward to aid America. 

And he adds, in reference to the people upon whom 
resistance to this invasion devolved: 

The five northern colonies of Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode 
Island, New Hampshire, and Vermont, usually classed together as 
the New England colonies, were the strongholds of the insurrection 
against the mother country. « * # jt ^vas among the descend- 
ants of the stern Puritans that the spirit of Cromwell and Vane 
breathed in all its fervor; it was from the New Englanders that the 
first armed opposition to the British Crown had been offered, and it 
was by them that the most stubborn determination to fight to the 
last, rather than waive a single right or privilege, had been displayed. 



38 Address of Mr. froctor on the 

Burgoyne had instructed Baum to cross the entire State 
of Vermont from west to east and return. His orders were 
to "mount 'your dragoons, send me one thousand three 
hundred horses, seize Bennington, cross the mountains 
to Rockingham and Brattleboro, try the affections of the 
country, take hostages, meet me a fortnight hence at 
Albany." The only part of the order which Baum was 
able to execute was to "try the affections of the country." 
This he did satisfactorily, but, instead of crossing the State 
twice, he was met and crushed at its very border and never 
entered the confines of the State except as a prisoner with 
a mortal wound. Four days after the battle Burgoyne 
wrote to the British minister: "The Hampshire Grants" 
(as Vermont was then called) "in particular, a country 
unpeopled and almost unknown in the last war, now 
abounds in the most active and rebellious race on the con- 
tinent and hangs like a gathering storm on my left. ' ' He 
had at that time found good reason to speak of the Hamp- 
shire Grants "in particular. ' ' Baroness von Reidesel wrote 
of the battle from the British camp: "This unfortimate 
event paralyzed at once our operations." On our side 
Washington writes of it to Putnam as "the great stroke 
struck by General Stark near Bennington." Bancroft, 
the historian, calls the victory "one of the most brilliant 
and eventful of the war." 

Bennington practically assured the victory at Saratoga. 
There was no danger of further marauding expeditions from 
Burgoyne. Bennington had cost him more than one-tenth 
of his entire force. The homes of the settlers were now 
safe, and they hastened to join the main army under- Gates. 
The ejBfect of the victory upon the morale of the armies was 



Acccptaucf of the Statue of John Stark. 39 

still greater than upon their numbers. Burgoyne's confi- 
dence in the final result was destroyed. Instead of being the 
attacking party, he was thenceforth confined to a defense 
every day becoming more hopeless. 

Creasy (writing before the rebellion and Gettysburg), in 
his Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World, beginning with 
Marathon and ending with Waterloo, makes Saratoga one 
of the fifteen, and the only one fought on the Western 
Hemisphere. " It was one of those few battles of which a 
contrary event would essentially have varied the drama of 
the world in all of its subsequent scenes." 

" Xor can any military event, ' ' states this writer, ' ' be said 
to have exercised more important influence on the future 
fortunes of mankind than the complete defeat of Burgoyne's 
expedition in 1777; a defeat which rescued the revolted col- 
onists from certain subjection, and wliich, by inducing 
the courts of France and Spain to attack England in their 
behalf, insured the independence of the United States and 
the formation of that transatlantic power which not only 
America but Europe and Asia now see and feel." 

Success at Saratoga might have been possible, though not 
probable, without- Bennington. Stark's victory made it a 
certainty. 

The sculptor, with true artistic sense, seeks to represent 
his subject at the supreme moment of his career, and I 
doubt not that in this case the artist would say that a fitting 
inscription for the pedestal of this statue would be "Stark 
at Bennington." 



Address of Mr. Dubois on the 



ADDRESS OF Mr. Dubois. 

Mr. President: In pursuance of a custom whicli has 
been honored by many States, we are met to-day in the 
Chamber of the United States Senate to accept from the 
State of New Hampshire statues of two of her most gifted 
and illustrious sons, selected from among the long and hon- 
orable list which that sturdy Commonwealth has given to 
the American Union. This custom originated through an 
act of Congress passed July 2, 1864, by which the old Hall 
of the House of Representatives was set apart, "or so much 
thereof as may be necessary," as a National Statuary Hall, 
and the President authorized to invite each and ever}' State 
to furnish statues of not more than two of its deceased 
citizens. Rhode Island was the first State to accept the 
invitation, and presented the statue of Nathaniel Greene 
in January, 1870, and Roger Williams in January, 1872. 
Illinois was the last State to respond prior to these cere- 
monies, presenting the statue of Gen. James Shields on 
December 6, 1893. Including New Hampshire, twelve 
States have placed statues of their illustrious citizens in 
Statuary Hall, namely: Rhode Island, Connecticut, New 
York, Vermont, Massachusetts, Pe:nisyl\-ania, Maine, Ohio, 
New Jersey, Michigan, Illinois, and New Hampshire. 

Occasions of this kind are not only pleasant in them- 
selves, but are profitable to the country. While the cere- 
monies of this day will be plain and unostentatious, and 
will consume but a few hours, and while those of us who 
participate in them will soon pass awa\-, the record will be 



Acceptance of tlic Statue of JoJui Stark. 41 

kept. The splendid deeds of these grand characters will 
again be recalled as an inspiration to the young men of 
now as well as those who are to shoulder the burdens and 
responsibilities of our Republic in the future. The statues 
will remain as a perpetual reminder to the hundreds and 
thousands of visitors to the Capitol that our nation is proud 
to keep fresh the great and heroic achievements of the sons 
of her respective States. 

It is well to turn aside thus for a few hours from the 
perpetual contests and strifes in which we are of necessity 
engaged, in order to unite as Americans in extolling the 
deeds of those who aided so greatly to make our Republic 
possible and who contributed so much to place it upon a 
substantial foundation. 

The Senators who honor New Hampshire in this body 
represent one of the oldest States in the Union. Their 
courtesy in asking me to say a few words concerning Gen. 
John Stark is due, quite likely, to the fact that Idaho is 
next to the youngest State. What New Hampshire w^as in 
the days of this illustrious patriot Idaho is to-day in many 
respects. New Hampshire was then the mountainous fron- 
tier, where hardships were to be endured and sturdy char- 
acters were to be found. John Stark little dreamed, when 
doing such valiant and self-sacrificing service in preparation 
for a Union of thirteen States, that but little more than a 
century afterwards a representative of the forty-third State 
of that same Union would stand side by side with the rep- 
resentatives of his own State to do honor to his memory. 

No doubt the Senators from New Hampshire had this 
thought in mind when they conferred upon one of the new- 
est States the honor of participating in this trit)ute to one 



42 Address of Mr. Dubois on the 

of her most distinguished pioneers. It would have been a 
pleasing recompense for his hardships and trials could he 
have known that such a Republic of States, held together 
by such strong ties as bind us, would have been builded 
upon the foundation he assisted so materially in laying. I 
wish he could have foreseen it. He builded better than he 
knew. Could he have contemplated the future greatness 
and power of the nation then forming, however, it could 
not have changed him. He did his full duty at all times, 
under all circumstances, and acknowledged no leader supe- 
rior to his own conscience. 

As other Senators have spoken so ably and fully already 
of the character of General Stark, I will present but a few 
facts of his life as they come down to us through history, 
and thus close. 

Archibald, the father of John Stark, was born in Scot- 
land and was highly educated. He came to this country 
and settled in L,ondonderry, N. H., in 1720. John Stark 
was born in the same town in 1728. His boyhood days 
were filled with thrilling adventures among wild Indians, 
were occupied by trapping, and accompanied by the hard- 
ships which always have and always will go to makc'up 
life on the frontier. 

In the early wars between the English and the French, 
growing out of rival claims over disputed territory in the 
Ohio and Mississippi valleys, John Stark, then a young 
man of about thirty years, took an active and brave part on 
.the side of the English. At the close of the war, in 1760, 
at which time he was a captain, he retired to the pursuits of 
private life, having married Elizabeth Page in 1758, when 
home on a furlough. When the war of the American 



Acceptance of the Statue of John Stark. 43 

Revolution broke out with the battle of Lexington, in April, 
1775, Captain Stark was the first to rush to the defense of 
the colonies, and quickly raised one thousand two hundred 
men, he being made colonel of a regiment. He fought 
through the entire war of the Revolution, down to the sur- 
render of Cornwallis, save when he retired from active serv- 
ice during short intervals, on account of treatment which 
he conceived to be unjust and a reflection upon himself by 
the civil branches of the Government. He was particu- 
larly conspicuous at tlie battles of Bunker Hill, Trenton, 
and Bennington. In 17S6 Congress conferred upon him 
the rank of major-general. 

Stark, during his entire career, was wonderfully popu- 
lar with the people of his State and with his soldiers, but 
was often in quarrels with the civil authorities, who had 
more or less control and direction of the military. These 
civilians did not seem to fully understand the character of 
Stark. He paid them but little respect, but always forced 
recognition by his unswerving patriotism, matchless per- 
sonal bravery, and wonderful sagacity in times of peril. 

During the years after the close of his military life he 
devoted himself to business with success, amassing a mod- 
erate fortune. Washington, Jefferson, Madison, and the 
other brilliant and able men of our early history demon- 
strated their appreciation of his services to his country and 
their admiration for his character by personal and touching 
letters to him. He was in every respect a son of New 
Hampshire, and will probably always occupy the con- 
spicuous position in the State of being a typical repre- 
sentative whose qualities they delight to honor. He lived 
to the ripe age of ninety-four, dying at Manchester, N. H., 
in i«22. 



Address of Mr. Chandler on the 



ADDRESS OF Mr. Chandler. 

Mr. President: John Stark was New Hampshire's 
great fighter in the war of tlie Revolution. The roll of 
honor of our State in that conflict is a full one, and is most 
creditable to the New Hampshire troops, who, from a 
population of eighty-three thousand seven hundred and 
seventy-eight, numbered eighteen thousand two hundred 
and eighty-nine out of a total of three hundred and ninety- 
five thousand and sixty-four raised by the thirteen colonies 
from the year 1775 to the year 17S3, inclusive, for the Con- 
tinental army. 

Maj. Andrew McClary was shot dead at Bunker Hill; 
Baldwin was killed there ; Adams, Colbourne, Thomas, and 
Bell died at Stillwater; Conner and Lieutenant McClary at 
Saratoga; Sherburne at Qermantown; Cloyes and McAulay 
in the Seneca region, and Alexander Scammel gave his life 
at Yorktown. Our high officers besides Stark were John 
Sullivan, Henry Dearborn, Enoch Poor, James Reed, 
George Reid, William Whipple, Joseph Cilley, and Nathan 
Hale, and they conferred distinction upon the Common- 
wealth. 

It was, however, not difficult to select from all our Rev- 
olutionary soldiers John Stark as the most appropriate 
figure for one of our two places in the National Gallery. 

More than any other commander he rejoiced in the fierce- 
ness of actual conflict on the battlefield. The sound of 
cannon and the smell of powder stirred his powers to their 
utmost without impairing his coolness and self-control. As 



Acceptance of the Statue of Jolin Stark. 45 

a leader of men in battle he has had few equals and almost 
no superiors in history. 

The strong character and patriotic services of vStark 
have been fully described by the speakers who have pre- 
ceded me. It is also due to historical accuracy always 
to remember that his actual merits as a soldier have been 
naturally enhanced in public estimation by the great impor- 
tance to the cause of the colonies of the three conflicts 
which have made him famous. 

The fight at Bunker Hill, on June 17, 1775, was the first 
pitched battle of the Revolutionar>- struggle. It taught 
the British that the Americans would meet and withstand 
the veteran troops of Europe and would boldly sacrifice 
their lives for independence. The slaughter of General 
Howe's oflScers and soldiers carried sad news to many Eng- 
lish homes and brought the King and his ministers face 
to face with the obstacles in the way of conquering the 
colonies. The battle of Bunker Hill was the most roman- 
tic and heroic conflict of the whole war; and its historv 
can not be written without displaying John Stark at the 
head of the New Hampshire forces, numbering more than 
all the other troops engaged, and covering the retreat of 
the gallant men, who in the main redoubt displayed a per- 
sistent bravery which has immortalized their conflict. 

It was next the good fortune of Stark to lead Washing- 
ton's advance at Trenton on December 25, 1776. The 
continental cause was then in a desperate condition, after 
the disastrous battle of Long Island, the retreat from 
Brooklyn to New York, the evacuation of that cit\-, tlie 
capture of Fort Washington, and the retreat of all the colo- 
nial forces into New Jersey. The invasion of Canada by 



46 Address of Mr. Chandler on the 

Montgomery and Arnold had proved disastrous; the British 
had advanced as ar as Crown Point, while the Americans 
had only a precarious hold on Ticonderoga. New England 
and New York were separated from Pennsylvania and the 
southern colonies. The army seemed to be dissolving, and 
Philadelphia was in danger of capture. 

Washington's plan for reviving the national spirit by his 
midwinter surprise of the Hessians at Trenton contemplated 
four simultaneous movements, all of which failed but his 
own. General Ewing, with his troops, was to cross the Del- 
aware one mile below Trenton and march up ; ice prevented 
his crossing. General Putnam was to cross still farther 
down the river, below Burlington; symptoms of an insur- 
rection in Philadelphia stopped him. General Cadwallader 
was also to cross near Putnam's forces; he sent over part 
of his command, but ice hindered the remainder, and all 
returned. 

Washington crossed nine miles above Trenton, divided 
his forces, and attacked before daylight above and below the 
town. One corps was led by General Sullivan, under whom 
John Stark was in the van. Washington Irving says: 
"Colonel Stark led the advance guard, and did it in gallant 
style." The victory of Trenton, the killing of Colonel 
Rahl, the capture of the Hessian troops, and the subse- 
quent conflict at Princeton redeemed the Jerseys, drove 
Cornwallis back toward New York, and revived the droop- 
ing hopes of the colonies. It was one of the decisive bat- 
tles of the Revolution. 

Next we see Stark at Bennington. The British plan of 
campaign for 1777 was to divide the colonies by seizing the 
line of the Hudson P..iver. Burgoyne was to go down the 



Acceptance of the Statue of John Stark. M 

lakes from Canada to Albany, while Sir Henry Clinton was 
to force his way up the Hudson to join the northern army. 
Burgoyne moved with great display down Lake Chaniplain, 
and on July 5 captured Ticonderoga. The Vermont set- 
tlers became alarmed and hundreds gave in their submis- 
sion, while others fled across the mountains to the men of 
New Hampshire. That State responded, and her militia 
flocked into Manchester, Vt., and when Burgoyne made tlie 
fatal mistake of dividing his army and sending Colonel 
Baum to the east to forage and to ravage, John Stark 
met him with the New Hampshire troops, and on August 
16, 1777, fought and won the battle of Bennington. This 
victory changed the whole aspect of affairs. Thereafter no 
British advance was possible, retreat became impracticable, 
and after the battles of Bemis Heights and Freeman's Farm 
Burgoyne's pretentious invasion ended with the surrender of 
his whole army to General Gates at Saratoga on October 17. 
General Clinton from the south had on the 6th of October 
carried by assault Forts Montgomery and Clinton, in the 
Highlands, and was within a few hours' sail of Albany 
when he heard of Burgoyne's surrender, and retreated down 
the river. 

The capture of the British army at Saratoga was the 
most decisive event of the war, because it led France to 
espouse and make successful the cause of American inde- 
pendence. In 1759 France had surrendered Canada to Great 
Britain. England became strong; France, weak and cau- 
tions. But the victory of Saratoga removed all hesitation, 
and France acknowledged our independence and prepared 
to support it by fleets and armies. England gave up her 
colonies for lost, and became willing to grant everything 



4S Address of Mr. Chandler. 

they had asked for, except independence. Prussia and 
Austria refused to furnish any more mercenary soldiers. 

The accurate and accomplished historian, Samuel Adams 
Drake, in his sketch of " Burgoyne's Invasion of 1777," 
describes the effect in America: 

At home the surrender of Burgoyne thrilled the whole land, for 
all felt it to be the harbinger of final triumph. The people went wild 
with joy. Salvos of artillery, toasts, bonfires, illuminations every- 
where testified to the general exultation. The name of France was 
hailed with acclamations. At once a sense of national dignity and 
solidity took the place of uncertainty and isolation. Now and 
henceforth the flag of the United States was known and respected 
abroad as at home, on the sea as on the land. 

Fortunate, thrice fortunate, was the immortal Stark that 
he was able to exercise his unsurpassed faculty of command 
and to exhibit his extreme personal valor by leading the 
New Hampshire troops at Bunker Hill, by heading Wash- 
ington's personal advance at Trenton, ^id by planning 
and winning, as the chief commander, the decisive victory 
of Bennington. 

Fortunate also is New Hampshire that she is able to place 
in the National Gallery the statue of a military hero whose 
services in arms contributed so much to American inde- 
pendence and whose memory is so deserving of perpetua- 
tion in all patriotic hearts. 

Mr. Gallinger. I ask for the adoption of the resolu- 
tions. 

The Presiding Officer (Mr. Pasco in the chair). The 
question is on the adoption of the concurrent resolutions 
submitted by the Senator from California [Mr. Perkins]. 

The resolutions were unanimouslv a2;reed to. 



ACCEPTANCE OF THE STATUE OF JOHN STARK. 



PROCEEDINGS IN HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. 

DECEMBER 12, 1894. 

Mr. Baker, of New Hampshire. Mr. Speaker, I a.sk 
unanimous consent for the present consideration of the 
resolution which I send to the desk. 

The resolution was read, as follows: 

Resolved, That the exercises appropriate to the reception and 
acceptance from the State of New Hampshire of the statues of 
John St.\rk, and Daniel Webster, to be erected in the old Hall 
of the House of Representatives, be made the special order for 
Thursday, the 20th day of December, at two o'clock p. m. 

The resolution was agreed to. 

On motion of Mr. Baker, of New Hampshire, a motion 
to reconsider the vote by which the resolution was adopted 
was laid on the table. 

DECEMBER 18, 1894. 

The Speaker laid before the House the following letter: 
State of New Hampshire, Executive Department, 

Concord, Decemf-er 5, 1894. 
Dear Sir: In accordance with an act passed at the biennial 
session of 1893, and in acceptance of an invitation contained in 
section eighteen hundred and fourteen of the Revised Statutes of 
4 s— w 40 



50 Proceedings in House of Representatives. 

the United States, the State of New Hampshire has placed in the 
National Statuary Hall in the Capitol at Washington two statues in 
marble — the one of John Stark, the other of Daniel Webster. 
These statues were modeled by Carl Conrads after statues in 
bronze now in the State House Park at Concord. The original ot 
the Webster statue is by Ball, and was presented to the State 
by Benjamin Pierce Cheney. The original statue of Stark is by 
Conrads, and was erected by the State. 

In behalf of the State of New Hampshire I have the honor of 
presenting these statues to the Congress of the United States. 
Very respectfully, 

John B. Smith, Governor. 
Hon. Charles F. Crisp, 

Spealter of tt/e House of Representatives. 

The Speaker. This communication will lie upon the 
table until the House determines to act upon it. 

DECEMBER 19, 1894. 

Mr. Baker, of New Hampshire, rose. 

The Speaker. The gentleman from New Hampshire 
[Mr. Baker], as the Chair understands, desires to submit 
a resolution relating to the ceremonies fixed for to-morrow. 

Mr. Baker, of New Hampshire. I ask the adoption of 
the resolution which I send to the desk. 

The Clerk lead as follows: 

Resolved, That his excellency the governor of New Hampshire, 
his escort, and the executive council be admitted to the floor of the 
House during the exercises on the .20th instant incident to the ac- 
ceptance from that State of the statues of John Stark and Daniel 
Webster. 

The Speaker. The gentleman from New Hampshire 
asks unanimous consent for the consideration of this reso- 
lution. The rules provide that the Chair shall not submit 
a proposition for unanimous consent for the admission to 



Acceptance of the Statue of John Stark. 51 

the floor of any person not designated in the rule on that 
subject. The Chair understands that provision, however, 
to apply to occasions when the House is engaged in the 
transaction of ordinary business; and it has been custom- 
ary, as the Chair understands, when business of the charac- 
ter named in this resolution has been before the House, to 
admit to the floor the governor of the State concerned, his 
staff, and the accompanying committee. The Chair, there- 
fore, submits the question whether there is objection to the 
consideration of this resolution. 

There was no objection. 

The House proceeded to the consideration of the resolu- 
tion, and it was adopted. 



DECEMBER 



The Speaker. The Clerk will report the .special order. 

The Clerk read as follows: 

Resolved, That the exercises appropriate to the reception and 
acceptance from the State of New Hampshire of the statues of 
John Stark and Daniel Webster, to be erected in the old Hall 
of the House of Representatives, be made the special order for 
Thursday, the 20th day of December, at two o'clock p. m. 

Mr. B.A.KER, of New Hampshire. Mr. Speaker, I ask 
that the letter of his e.xcellency the governor of New 
Hampshire, addressed to the honorable Speaker of this 
House, which has been read and laid upon the table, be 
taken from the table and again reported. 

The letter was read, as follows: 
State ok New Hampshire, Executive Department, 

Cimcord, December 5, 1894. 

Dear Sir: In accordance with an act passed at the biennial 
session of 1893, and in acceptance of an invitation contained in sec- 
tion eighteen hundred and fourteen of the Revised Statutes of the 



52 Proceedi)igs in House of Representatives. 

United States, the State ot New Hampshire has placed in the 
National Statuary Hall in the Capitol at Washington two statues in 
marble — the one of John Stark, the other ot Daniel Webster. 
These statues were modeled by Carl Conrads after statues in bronze 
now in the State House Park at Concord. The original of the 
Webster statue is by Ball, and was presented to the State by 
Benjamin Pierce Cheney. The original statue of Stark is by 
Conrads, and was erected by the State. 

In behalf of the State of New Hampshire I have the honor of 
presenting these statues to the Congress of the United States. 
Very respectfully, 

John B. Smith, Governor. 
Hon. Charles F. Crlsp, 

Speaker of the House of Representatives. 

Mr. Baker. I submit the following resolution. 
The Clerk read as follows: 

Resolved by the House of Representatives [tiie Senate concurring), 
That the thanks ot Congress be given to the people of New Hamp- 
shire for the statue of John Stark, illustrious for military services, 
being especially distinguished at Bunker Hill and as the victorious 
commander at Bennington. 

Resolved. That the statue be accepted and placed in the National 
Statuary Hall, and that a copy of this resolution, signed by the 
presiding officers of the House of Representatives and the Senate, 
be forwarded to his excellency the governor of the State of New 
Hampshire. 



Acceptance of the Statue of John Stark. 



ADDRESS OF Mr. Baker. 

Mr. Speaker: The biography of men is often as inter- 
esting and instructive as the history of nations. We can 
more easily imderstand the motives and purposes of indi- 
viduals than comprehend the necessities and intentions of 
governments. The right word spoken or a bra\-e blow 
struck for freedom, country, family, or friends, when the 
exigency is great, comes closer to the hearts of the people 
than the edicts of kings or the decrees of synods and coun- 
cils. The one is always picturesque and patriotic, the 
other sometimes hostile in purpose and hated in practice. 
Everywhere the people have been quick to recognize those 
in public or private life who represent a great principle 
or do brave deeds that freer government may bless the 
nations and ennoble human it}-. 

So love of country and willingness to die that libertv 
may live are honored among men. The truly good, the 
unselfishly patriotic, and those who by great talents have 
inspired the people, and taught them how to defend and 
preserve their liberties, have been in all ages commemo- 
rated by statues and monuments. Advancing civilization 
encourages these tokens of appreciation, veneration, and 
love. 

While our nation was torn b\- civil war and faint hearts 
feared that it would not survive the shock of battle. Con- 
gress, never doubting the success of the national arms and 
the final restoration of the Union, provided by statute for 
the erection in the Capitol of "statues in marble or bronze 
of deceased persons illustrious for their historic renown or 



54 Address of Mr. Baker on the 

for distinguished civic or military services," and invited 
the several States to honor two of their most renowned 
citizens by such statues. To-day New Hampshire avails 
herself of the national invitation, and erects in Statuary 
Hall the statues of her renowned sons. Gen. John Stark, 
the intrepid, patriotic citizen soldier, and Daniel Web- 
ster, the orator, statesman, and greatest constitutional 
lawyer of our country. 

Of the- early settlers of New Hampshire many were of 
Scotch-Irish descent. They were an honest, hardy, law- 
respecting, patriotic, and industrious people. No country 
could have a better class of citizens. Among them was 
Archibald Stark, who, born in Glasgow, Scotland, and 
educated in the university of that city, removed to Lon- 
donderry, Ireland, where he married Eleanor Nichols, the 
daughter of a resident Scotchman, and emigrated to Amer- 
ica in 1720. 

The voyage was long, tedious, and disastrous to his high 
hope of immediate prosperity. All his children died at sea, 
and when, late in autumn, he arrived at Boston, the author- 
ities refused to permit any one to land from the vessel 
because many of the passengers were ill with smallpox. 
Being driven from that port, the\- landed on the wild shores 
of ]\Iaine, where they passed the winter in great discomfort. 
The next summer Mr. Stark and wife found their way to 
friends in LondondeiTy, N. H., where they made a home 
and began life anew. Here their son John Stark was 
born August 28, 1728. When he was eight years old his 
father's house was burned, and the family removed to a 
location on the Merrimack River just above Amoskeag Falls, 
in the present city of ^Manchester. Here the Stark family 



Acceptance of the Statue of John Stark. 55 

made its permanent home and here Gen. John Stark lived 
and died. Here his father educated his children, and they 
grew up working on the farm, hunting and fishing, and 
becoming inured to the hardships of the forests and warfare 
with the Indians. 

JoHis Stark remained at home until twenty-four years 
old, and then, with three friends, went on a hunting expe- 
dition to Baker's River, in Rumney. In about thirty days 
the\- had secured furs valued at more than two thousand 
five hundred dollars. Having observed signs of hostile 
Indians, they decided to return home. The next day young 
vStark, w^hile collecting the traps, fell into an ambuscade 
and was captured. Endeavoring to save his companions, 
he sent the Indians in the contrary direction from the 
camp; but his friends, l^ecoming alarmed at his unusual 
absence, fired several guns to call him back, and thus 
revealed their position to the enemy. From his con- 
tinued absence they suspected what had befallen him and 
attempted to escape, two in a boat and one on shore. 
The Indians soon captured the one on land and then com- 
manded Stark to call his friends in the boat and tell them 
to come ashore. On the contrary, he informed them what 
had happened, and advised them to pull for the opposite 
shore, which the\- did. Some of the Indians then attempted 
to shoot them, but St.\rk struck up their guns. Others 
fired and killed one of them; the other, Stark\s brother 
William, escaped and reached home safely. Having cruelly 
whipped Stark and captured his furs, they returned to 
their wigwams on the St. Francis River, in Canada, where 
he was compelled to run the gantlet. After receiving sev- 
eral blows, Stark struck right and left, knocking some 



56 Address of Mr. Baker on the 

of the young Indians down, the others preferring to make 
way for him than to meet his sturdy resistance. They 
ordered him to hoe corn, but he carefully destroyed the 
corn and cultivated the weeds, hoping thus to avoid further 
labor, and as he was not successful in this he threw his hoe 
into the river, boldly asserting that "it is the business of 
squaws, not warriors, to hoe corn." These brave and 
unusual acts pleased the old men of the tribe, and they 
named him "the young chief" and wished to adopt him. 
In a few months he was ransomed by the payment of a 
pony valued at one hundred and three dollars. This expe- 
rience with the Indians, the knowledge he acquired of their 
customs, skill, and language, was of great aid to him in his 
military career. The next season he went on a hunting 
excursion upon the banks of the Androscoggin, and secured 
enough furs to repay the money advanced for his ransom. 

In 1754 Stark received his first military commission, 
being appointed an ensign in an expedition to the upper 
Coos to ascertain the truth of a report that the French had 
occupied that territory and were erecting a fort, and, if the 
rumor should prove true, to demand their authority for such 
hostile demonstrations. They found that country unoccu- 
pied, and promptly returned home. The same year the 
Seven Years war began, and the New Hampshire colonists 
heartily espoused the cause of the mother country. 

In 1755 an extensive campaign was planned, and the ex- 
ecution of that part of it which was intended to secure the 
reduction of Crown Point and the occupation of the terri- 
tory along Lakes George and Champlain was intrusted to 
the troops raised in New England. Among these was a band 
of russred hunters, familiar with the forests, the methods 



Acceptance of the Statue of John Stark. 57 

of Indian warfare, and accustomed to all the dangers and 
hardships of frontier life, each being an expert sharp- 
shooter, who could endure the fatigue of long marches, the 
pangs of hunger, and the cold of winter, camping without 
shelter, and frequently without fire, wherever night or the 
necessities of the occasion required. These New Hampshire 
troops were known as "Rodgers rangers," and Stark was 
their second lieutenant. His whole life had been a school 
for this warfare, better than any which the nations had 
established. They did good service, but were discharged 
when preparations were made for winter encampment. 
They had demonstrated their ability and the necessity for 
their peculiar methods of warfare ; and when the campaign 
of the next year opened the rangers were organized as a 
permanent corps. Stark was again a lieutenant, but was 
soon promoted to a captaincy in recognition of his brilliant 
service. 

Captain Stark, returning home on a furlough, was mar- 
ried, August 20, 1758, to Miss Elizabeth Page, a daughter 
of one of the original proprietors of the township of Dun- 
barton, X. H. 

By the spring of 1759 he Ijad enlisted a new company of 
rangers, and was early at the seat of war. He remained in 
active service until the close of the campaigns of 1760, 
when it was conceded that the war was virtualh- ended, and 
then resigned his commission and returned home with well- 
earned military honors and the good will of his com- 
mander, who assured him that he could resume his rank in 
the army whenever he wished. This he probably would 
have done had not the conquest of Canada and the restora- 
tion of peace enabled him to superintend his farm and mills 



58 Address of Mr. Baker on the 

and for a time attend to his private affairs, which had been 
so long neglected. 

The war so happily ended had been a remarkable school 
for the colonists. They had received seven years of instruc- 
tion in tactics and military science; had measured them- 
selves by daily contact with the best troops of England, 
and had helped defeat the French. The result of their 
comparison was more favorable to themselves than they 
had anticipated, and when it became necessary to defend 
their liberties by arms they were more confident of the 
result than they otherwise could have been. 

Captain Stark, ever held in high honor and esteem by 
his neighbors and the people of his State, was appointed 
one of the " committee of safety " in 1774. He was always 
their friend, and uniformly espoused their cause. He never 
yielded any of their rights, yet counseled moderation and 
regretted the impending necessity for armed resistance. 

The news of the battle of Lexington found him at work 
in his sawmill. He understood that it was the beginning 
of the hazardous struggle for liberty he had so long feared, 
but for which he had quietly prepared his people. He at 
once stopped his mill, returned home, mounted his horse, 
and rode toward the scene of hostilities. Everywhere he 
aroused the people and directed them to follow him and en- 
camp at Medford, Mass. They were not slow to obey their 
old captain and friend, for their hearts loved liberty and 
they were as patriotic as their leader. Several hundred of 
them reported for duty with such arms and equipments as 
they possessed. They organized by unanimously electing 
Stark colonel and by selecting a full line of officers for the 
regiment, which consisted of thirteen companies. Stark's 



Acceptance of the Statue of Joint Stark. 59 

prompt and patriotic action and the ready response of the 
New Hampshire citizen soldiery made the battle of Bunker 
Hill not only excusable but justifiable and the result 
beneficial to the cause of liberty. More than one-half 
of the Americans actually engaged in the battle were from 
New Hampshire. The leadership of Stark and the hero- 
ism and devotion of the New Hampshire troops prevented 
a disastrous rout and turned actual defeat into the glory of 
substantial victory. 

The lessons of the vSeven Years war were repeated and 
verified, and the colonists learned anew that British troops 
are not invincible. Lexington, Concord, and Bunker Hill 
gave confidence and courage to the Americans and fixed 
their determination to resist ever\- effort to oppress them. 
The war was actually begun. The right of self-govern- 
ment was on trial. On the one side was the power of 
established monarchical government; on the other, the 
unorganized, disunited, and somewhat discordant colonists, 
who were strong only in their love of liberty and their firm 
purpose to maintain the freedom they had enjoyed. 

After the evacuation of Boston by the British, Colonel 
Stark and his regiment marched to New York and helped 
to strengthen its defenses. Thence he was ordered to pro- 
ceed to Canada and assist the American army there. He 
marched via Albany and joined the army at St. Johns. 
General Sullivan, another New Hampshire officer, soon 
assumed command, and directed an attack upon the ene- 
my's post at Three Rivers. Stakk, in a council of v.-ar, 
protested against this, but gave it his hearty support when 
ordered. The expedition was a failure. The retreat was 
conducted with great skill by General Sullivan, Colonel 



60 Address of Mr. Baker on the 

Stark bringing up the rear. They retired to Crown 
Point and subsequently to Ticonderoga. 

Here, on the 8th of July, 1776, the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence was received and proclaimed to the army. It 
was greeted with applause and every evidence of approval 
and delight. Stark's command was encamped upon a 
hill, which, in honor of the event, was named Mount In- 
dependence. Sixteen years before, serving as a captain 
under General Amherst, he had been present when the 
French surrendered Ticonderoga. Then, commanding a 
regiment, he heard the independence of his country pro- 
claimed to a patriotic army holding that fortress against 
the English. Soon after he was assigned to the command 
of a brigade. That fall he learned that several colonels 
holding junior rank had been promoted to brigadier- 
generals. He protested against this, asserting that such 
action was unjust, would cause insecurity of rank and 
command, and produce discord in the army. 

When it was known that the enemy had retired to 
winter quarters, several regiments, including Stark's, 
were ordered to reenforce General Washington, then on the 
right bank of the Delaware, at Newtown, Pa. When thus 
reenforced, his army contained about seven thousand effect- 
ive men. Congress and the people were despondent and 
all felt the necessity for some brave action which should 
encourage them. At this time St.\rk gave his opinion 
to General Washington in favor of active operations. He 
said: "Your men have too long been accustomed to place 
their dependence for safety upon spades and pickaxes. If 
you ever expect to establish the independence of these 
States you must teach them to rely upon their firearms 



Acceptance of the Statue of John Stark. 61 

and their courage." Washington replied: "We are to 
march upon Trenton to-morrow, and you are to command 
the advance guard of the right wing." He was also with 
Washington at Princeton and rendered good service there. 

A few days before these engagements the term of enlist- 
ment of two New Hampshire regiments expired. One of 
them was Stark's own legiment. There was no more 
gloomy period of the war.^ The troops were ill-fed, poorly 
clothed, almost barefoot, and unpaid. In this emergency 
Stark proposed to his regiment to reenlist for six weeks. 
He told them that if they left the army the cause was 
lost; he reminded them of their valor at Bunker Hill and 
their honorable service at all times, and promised that if 
Congress did not pay them his private property should be 
pledged to raise the necessary funds. His popularity and 
influence were so great that every man in both regiments 
reenlisted. 

The army went into winter quarters at Morristown, and 
Stark returned home to obtain recruits. Such was his 
reputation that men readih- enlisted, and by March, 1777, 
his regiment was full. He then reported to the State 
authorities at Exeter for any instructions they might give. 
There he was informed that Congress had made further 
promotions of junior officers, and that he had received 
no recognition. He at once resigned his commi.ssion, 
although Generals vSuUivan and Poor attempted to dissuade 
him. His reply, that "an officer who would not maintain 
his rank is unworthy to serve his country," was character- 
istic of him, and showed his high sen.se of honor. 

Though dissatisfied with his own treatment, he remained 
faithful to the cause, and returning hon;e sent all the 



62 Address of Mr. Baker on the 

members of his family into the army who were old enough 
for military duty. In every way possible, except by personal 
service in tlie army, he did his utmost to advance the 
patriot cause. He pointed out the exposed condition of 
the northern frontier and the necessity for the reenforce- 
ment of Ticonderoga. 

His fears in this regard were soon realized. The early 
summer saw the invasion of the States by the army under 
Burgoyne and the retreat of the American army from 
Ticonderoga. The way seemed clearly open for the forces 
under Generals Howe and Burgoyne to unite and maintain 
communication from New York to Canada by the Hudson 
and Lakes George and Champlain, thus separating the 
States into two disconnected and feeble sections. The 
danger was great; the fear of the people intense. The 
authorities of Vermont informed the council of New Hamp- 
shire that unless speedy assistance came to them they 
would be compelled to yield to the power they could not 
successfully resist. When this message came the assembly 
of New Hampshire was not in session, but was immediately 
summoned. 

In three days they had assembled. The emergency was 
great, their resources were few. Our people had already 
done all they thought possible. The public credit was 
exhausted, and many despaired of being able either to raise 
or support another regiment. At this time John Langdon, 
a merchant of Portsmouth, was speaker of the house. He 
addressed the representatives, as follows: 

I have three thousand dollars in hard money; my plate I will 
pledge for as much more. I have seventy hogsheads of Tobago 
rum, which shall be sold for the most they will bring. These are at 



Acceptance of the Statue of John Stark. 63 

the service of the State. If we succeed, I shall be remunerated ; if 
not, they will be of no use to me. We can raise a brigade, and our 
friend St.\rk, who so nobly sustained the honor of our arms at Bunker 
Hill, may safely be intrusted with the command, and we will check 
Burgoyne. 

A messenger was dispatched for Colonel Stark, who 
immediately responded in person. He accepted the com- 
mand upon the condition that he was not to join the main 
army or be responsible to any antliority other than the 
State of New Hampshire. The militia officers were or- 
dered to disarm all persons who made excuses or refused to 
aid in defending the country. A day of fasting and pra^■er 
was observed with deep feeling. 

The reappearance of their old commander filled the 
people with enthusiasm. The militia enlisted with alac- 
rity, and soon more men had volunteered than had been 
authorized. They reported for duty at Charlestown, N. 
H., and then marched to Manchester, near Bennington, 
Vt. , where Stark organized and disciplined his troops. 
While there he was visited by General Lincoln, with orde rs 
from General Schuyler to conduct the New Hampshire 
militia to the main army. This Stark refused to do, and 
stated his instructions from the authorities of New Hamp- 
shire. The reply being reported to General vSchuyJer, he 
wrote Congress complaining of Stark and urging his 
own need of reenforcemeiits. Congress passed a vote of 
censure upon the council of New Hampshire and upon 
Stark. 

Meanwhile Stark was preparing for active work. Bur- 
goyne had detached Colonel Baum with a considerable 
force to capture the military stores at Bennington, and 
St.\rk was there to defend them. He was joined by the 



64 Address of Mr. Baker on the 

Vermont troops and by militia from the Berkshire Hills 
of Massachiisetts. Baum had intrenched himself upon 
advantageous ground and had several cannon in position. 
Stark attacked him in rear and in front, and after a hotl)' 
contested fight of two hours the enemy was driven from 
his defenses and the battle won. 

The prisoners were speedih- collected, and had liardly 
been marched from the field before the reenforcements 
which Colonel Baum had called for were heard approach- 
ing. Opportunely, Colonel Warner's troops arrived at the 
same time to aid Stark. The New Hampshire brigade 
rallied, and the fight was renewed with great energy on 
both sides, and lasted until nearly night, when the enemy 
retreated. Stark pursued them until darkness ended the 
conflict. The victory was complete. The enemy had two 
hundred and seven killed and many wounded. The 
American loss was thirty killed and forty wounded. 
Four brass cannon, eight drums, many swords, several 
hundred stands of arms, and seven hundred and fifty pris- 
oners were among the immediate fruits of victor}-. The 
militia of New Hampshire, Vermont, and Massachusetts 
had met veteran troops protected by intrenchments de- 
fended by artillery, had carried them at the point of the 
bayonet, and won a signal victory. Stark said of them: 
" Had every man been an Alexander or a Charles the 
Twelfth they could not have behaved more gallantly." 
Certainly sixty per cent of these troops were New Hamp- 
shire men, and it is stated that one hundred and sixty-five 
of them had fought at Bunker Hill. 

Doubt and despair were turned into faith and rejoicing. 
New hope and life pervaded the people. The army gained 



• Acceptance of the Statue of Joint Stark. 65 

new courage, and offensive operations were resumed. 
Burgoyne liad met with a serious loss, and henceforth 
was harassed on all sides. Stark'.s v-ictory made his sur- 
render a necessity. The French saw the courage and 
determination of the Americans, and decided to assist 
them. This victory was the turning point of the war. 
It was the third day after the battle when Congress passed 
its vote of censure upon Stark, but as soon as it heard of 
his victory it made full, though tardy, recognition of his 
ability and patriotism. It passed a resolution in this 
language : 

Resolved, That the thanks of Congress be presented to General 
Stark, of the New Hampshire -militia, and the officers and troops 
under his command, for their brave and successful attack upon and 
signal victory over the enemy in their lines at Bennington, and that 
Brigadier Stark, be appointed a brigadier in the army of the 
United States. 

Congress officially transmitted this resolution to him, 
with the commission he had earned months before. 

After the battle, but before Congress had done him jus- 
tice, he saw that the capture of Burgoyne was possible, 
and no personal feeling could longer keep him from join- 
ing the main army. But the term of enlistment of his 
troops had expired. They had left home upon a day's 
notice. General Gates had a large command, and they 
could not see that their presence was essential to success. 
Moreover, they had enlisted upon the distinct understand- 
ing that they were to be commanded by vStark onh-, and 
though he was willing to waive that point the\- were not, 
and returned home. 

Thus General Stark, who then held no commission in 
the Continental Army, was left without a command, and 
5 s— w 



66 Address of Mr. Baker on the 

followed his soldiers to New Hampshire. Everywhere he 
was received with great honor and many expressions of 
gratitnde. He immediately asked for new enlistments, 
and such was his popularity that he was soon in command 
of nearly three thousand men. He saw that the way was 
open for Burgoyne to retreat to Canada, and decided to 
prevent it by putting his troops in the rear of the enemy. 
He captured Fort Edward, and then stationed his men in 
such positions as to prevent Burgoyne' s retreat. When 
this became known to General Burgoyne, he saw no escape 
and submitted terms for the surrender of his army. The 
campaign of 1777 having been gloriously ended by the 
capture of Burgoyne' s army, General Stark — his com- 
mission as brigadier-general, with the thanks of Congress, 
being received — returned home in high spirits to raise 
recruits and supplies. 

In December he was ordered by Congress to proceed to 
Albany and prepare for a winter campaign in Canada. 
These orders were issued without the knowledge of Gen- 
eral Washington, and the expedition was abandoned for 
lack of sufficient preparation and support. 

General Stark was assigned to the command of the 
northern department in the spring of 1778, with head- 
quarters at Albany. His service here was unpleasant, as it 
involved no active operations beyond the watching and 
punishment of Tories and spies, and he gladly received 
orders to report to General Gates in Rhode Island. Here 
he remained until December, 1779, when, the British hav- 
ino- been driven out of that State, he reported to General 
Washington in New Jersey. During the winter he re- 
turned home for recruits and supplies, but rejoined the army 



Acceptance of the Statue of Joint Stark. 67 

at Mornstown. After a brief service he was ordered to 
New England to raise volunteers to reenforce the army at 
West Point. In this he was successful, and, having deliv- 
ered the recruits, rejoined his command. In September 
he returned to West Point with his brigade and resumed 
command there. While on this duty he was assigned to 
the court-martial which condemned Major Andre. 

His health became greatly impaired at the close of this 
campaign and he thought seriou.sly of retiring from the 
army, but by the advice of General Sullivan asked for a 
furlough for the winter. This was granted, and in the 
spring he returned to the ami}- with improved health and 
renewed zeal. In June, ij.Si, he was again assigned to the 
command of the northern department, with headquarters 
at Saratoga. His command was not a pleasant though an 
important one. There was no open foe, but traitors, spies, 
and Tories cursed the land. He ruled them with a strong 
hand, and imprisonments and executions were not infre- 
quent. 

He was at Saratoga when Cornwallis surrendered his 
army at Yorktown, and regretted that he could not person- 
ally participate in the glory of that event. 

The war being now virtually ended, General St.\rk se- 
cured the public property, and thanking his militia for 
faithful services, dismissed them to their homes. As 1782 
passed without important military operations, and as it 
was known that negotiations for peace were pending, he 
did not report for active duty that year. 

In 1783 he reported to General Washington for any duty 
that might be assigned him, and did much good by his 
endeavors to allay discontent in the army. When the 



68 Address of Mr. Baker on the 

Society of the Cincinnati was organized he regarded it 
with distrust and refused to join if. He proposed to lead 
the life of Cincinnatus on his own farm, and said: "To 
imitate that great man, we should return to the occupa- 
tions we have temporarily abandoned without ostentation, 
holding ourselves ever in readiness to obey the call of our 
country." 

The independence of the United States having been 
acknowledged by England, the army being disbanded, and 
the officers having taken leave of Washington and of one 
another, he quietly returned to his home on the ]\Ierri- 
mack, where he managed his estate for many years, receiv- 
ing the respect and honor due his virtues and services. 
By an act of Congress of September 30, 1783, he was 
given the brevet rank of major-general in the army of the 
United States. 

In the events of the war of 1812 General Stark felt a 
deep interest, but his advanced age — more than fourscore 
years — prevented his taking the field again. When he 
heard that the cannon he had captured at Bennington had 
been surrendered at Detroit by General Hull he became 
exceedingly angry, and until they were recovered by the 
capture of Fort George never ceased to bemoan the loss of 
his guns, as he affectionately called them. 

He lived until the Republic he had fought to establish 
had triumphantly emerged from another war with England 
and had taken high rank among the nations; until her 
institutions were secure and the right and wisdom of self- 
government were vindicated. 

On the Sth of INIay, 1822, he answered the roll call 
where so many of his comrades had preceded him. He 



Acceptance of the Statue of JoJui Stark. 69 

had outlived all the generals of the Revolution except 
Sumter, and was almost ninety-four years old. His chil- 
dren were five sons and six daughters — eleven in all. 
Three of the sons were officers in the army. 

General Stark was' well proportioned, of medium size, 
and too active to become corpulent. His features were 
well formed and prominent, his eyes blue j-et piercing, 
though softened by projecting eyebrows. His lips showed 
firmness and were ordinarily closed. His forehead was 
high and full, his nose sharp and large. 

Physically and mentally he impressed everyone with his 
self-confidence, his self-possession in times of diffictilty or 
danger, his capacity to command, his power to execute, 
and his courage at all times. His character in private 
and public life is without a stain. Though stern and 
unrelenting when duty called or honor was involved, he 
was open and frank in his manners, speaking freeh" his 
opinions. He was always kind to the needy and hospita- 
ble to all, especially to his comrades in arms. His -integ- 
rity was unquestioned, his honor never doubted. His 
patriotism was pure and perennial. He said: "The cause 
of my country appears the noblest for which man ever 
contended, and no measures should be neglected or' sacri- 
fices withheld which will support it to a favorable result. 
In such a cause we may even despise death itself. You 
may assure Congress that I am most happy when I can 
do my country the greatest service." 



70 Address of Mr. Poivers on the 



ADDRESS OF MR. POWERS. 

Mr. Speaker: Vermont rightfully claims audience on 
any occasion when honor is proposed to the memory of 
Gen. John Stark. 

The military achievement which gave him enduring 
fame was planned on her soil and carried into successful 
execution by the aid of \'ermout valor. 

Down to the summer of 1777 nothing had occurred in 
the war for independence that threatened such dire disas- 
ter to the American cause as the invasion of General 
Burgoyne. That such an invasion on his line of march 
was possible had been earh- foreseen, and when the news 
of Lexington reached the settlers of Vermont, brave old 
Ethan Allen anticipated this danger, and in a heroic 
way and as the self-appointed representative of the Great 
Jehovah and the Continental Congress — two authorities 
then held in little respect by the commandant of Fort 
Ticonderoga — seized the fortress which commanded the 
southern entrance to Lake Champlain. 

The British cabinet had discovered that the great water- 
way by Lake Champlain and the Hudson River from 
Montreal to New York was a natural line of bisection 
which would cut off New England from her sister colo- 
nies. In Indian warfare and in the French wars this line 
had been traversed by warring armies, and its natural ad- 
vantages, with its natural environment were, well under- 
stood in British counsels. 

Accordingly it was determined that a well-equipped 



Acceptance of the Statue of Joint Stark. 71 

army, under a trusty commander, should march by this 
line to Albaii)-, where it was expected it would meet a co- 
operating force coming north from New York City, and 
thereby the confederated colonies would be cut in twain. 

The plan was bold in design and pregnant with hope. 
The British cabinet and the British people sawin the ex- 
pedition a speedy close of the war. Burgoyne and his 
generals entered upon it as if upon a holiday excursion. 
Some of the officers were accompanied by their wives, who 
were for the first time to witness the wil9 novelties of 
American scenery and the humiliation of American rebels. 

The army lacked nothing in equipment, nothing in 
numbers, nothing in expectations. But it lacked all ap- 
preciation of the mettle of New England farmers. 

In marked contrast with this elevated spirit of the in- 
vaders was the consternation that seized upon the settlers 
in New England, especially in \'ermont. New Hampshire, 
and Massachusetts. Vermont, close by Burgoyne's line 
of march, would naturally expect forays from his army, 
so certain to need provisions and supplies. An urgent 
call was made upon the New Hampshire authorities for 
aid, and this gave Stark the opportunity of his lifetime, 
for b}- common consent he was placed in command of the 
hastily recruited militia that gathered on the \'ermout 
border. 

Washington was too much engaged south of New York 
to spare large detachments to meet Burgoyne's invasion. 
General Schuyler, however, was expected to check the 
advance near Albany; but in the light of subsequent events 
it is altogether probable that he would have failed had not 
Burgoyne's march been crippled on its way south of 



72 Add?-css of Mr. Powers on the 

Ticonderoga. The country through which he passed was 
sparsely' settled and more sparsely provisioned. 

Stark saw that Burgoyne, so far from his base, would 
need provisions more than recruits, and rightfully divined 
his purpose to seize whatever stores had been accumulated 
at Bennington for the nse of the militia that had hastilv 
been called out for the defense of their homes. It has 
often been said that General Baum was detached by Bur- 
goyne for the simple purpose of seizing these stores, but 
this was not the main end in view. It was only one thing 
out of many that Baum was to do. Burgoyne had dis- 
covered that he had an enemy on his flank and in his rear 
that required as close attention as the one he expected to 
meet in his front. He saw also that the most thickly set- 
tled portions of Vermont, on both sides of the Green 
Mountains, could supply him with provisions and horses, 
and so General Baum had orders to seize the stores at 
Bennington, and then, by way of Manchester, north of 
Bennington, to cross the mountains and move down the 
Connecticut River to Brattleboro, and thence through the 
Berkshire Hills to rejoin the main army. 

Stark's determination to give battle at Bennington is 
thus seen to have promised the best possible protection to 
the infant settlements in Vermont as well as the compara- 
tively unprotected settlements on both sides of the Con- 
necticut River, and fully justified him in declining to obey 
the orders of General Sclnnler to march his men to the 
mouth of the Mohawk. 

Stark's commission empowered him to act independ- 
ently of the Continental Congress and of officers acting 
under its commission. He could render the national cause 



Acceptance of the Statue of John Stark. 73 

more aid by disabling the invading army than by running 
ahead of it or around it, and, although Congress censured 
his disobedience of Schuyler's orders, yet as soon as it 
learned of his victory it made haste to revoke its censure 
and vote its thanks to him and his men. 

The details of the battle of Bennington are familiar his- 
tory. No better generalship or better soldiership was 
developed during the war. Stark was the personification 
of heroism and the inspiration of victory. No commander 
less such could have held his undisciplined men so tena- 
ciously to duty. He displayed the dash of a Sheridan, the 
strategy of a Lee, and the firm mental poise of a Grant. 

He flanked and surrounded Baum before opening his 
fire. Every soldier saw in defeat the possible widowhood 
of his own "]\Iolly Stark." Such men, under such a 
leader and fighting for home, are alwa}-s and even,-where 
invincible. 

The results of Stark's victory at Bennington were of 
the most far-reaching consequence to tlie American cause. 
Burgoyne had lost one-seventh of his men and seven- 
sevenths of his overconfidence. His journey was no longer 
a holiday trip, but had become a matter of anxious busi- 
ness. He discovered that he must meet his enemy in front 
in a crippled condition, while the most rebellious people 
on earth hung upon his flank like a withering storm. 

Bennington was at once a revelation to the haughty 
Briton and an inspiration to the hopeful American. 

Alison says that the battle of Valmy, the first test made 
of the mettle of soldiers of France after the breaking out 
of the revolution of 1789, carried the arms of France 
to Vienna and the Kremlin. So it may be affirmed that 



74 Address of Mr. Pmvers on the 

Bennington made vSaratoga not alone possible— it made it 
inevitable. Saratoga brought recognition from France 
and Spain, and with that independence was practically 
won. Bennington restored the waning courage and droop- 
ing hope of America. It unified public sentiment through- 
out the colonies, it emphasized the belligerent character 
of the contest, and, better than all, it demonstrated the 
ability of the American volunteer to cope with the pro- 
fessional soldier of Europe. 

Vermont has in many ways testified her appreciation of 
the part taken by her own militia and the militia of New 
Hampshire and Massachusetts at Bennington. She has kept 
the i6th day of August in constant annual remembrance for 
a hundred years. Seven years ago she celebrated the cen- 
tennial anniversary of the battle upon a large and imposing 
scale of ceremonies. The occasion was graced by the pres- 
ence of the President of the United States, his Cabinet, 
the governors and legislatures and many distinguished 
citizens of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont. 
Elaborate commemorative exercises brought to the mind of 
the present generation a keener view of the significance of 
the battle. Three years- ago another monster celebration 
brought together an assemblage no less distinguished, in 
honor of the dedication of the monument erected to com- 
memorate the deeds of Stark and his men. 

To-day New Hampshire adds one more testimonial of 
honor to her distinguished son by setting his statue in our 
national gallery of fame, and appropriately couples it with 
that of her other son, Daniel Webster, the foremost 
American in law, letters, and statesmanship. What other 
State can boast the motherhood of two such sons? — the 



Acceptance of the Statue of John Stark. 75 

one a master in the arts of war, the other a master in the 
arts of peace. Both dedicated their lives to the honor and 
glory of their country, and both have secured the applause 
of countless millions of men who will share the blessings 
of free government. 

Let Statuary Hall, then, admit these statues into that 
group of heroic casts that reflect the civil and military 
renown of our common country, and before their pedestals 
the ceaseless throng of visitors to the American capital 
from every State in the Union, in all the years to come, 
will pause to bow its tribute of respectful homage to two of 
the best types of American manhood. 

It was the fortunate mission of St.\rk to win the liberty 
of his people to the end that a government of the people, 
by the people, and for the people might be ordained; and 
of WRB.STER to analyze, discover, and expound the proper 
functions and aims of the system. Be it ours to preserve, 
perpetuate, and transmit it, unbroken in form, unchecked 
in scope, undefiled in spirit, in the proud trust that it is 
unending- in time. 



Address of Mr. Grout on the 



ADDRESS OF Mr. Grout. 

Mr. Speaker: I wish in behalf of Vermont to acknowl- 
edofe the courtesy of the invitation extended by New 
Hampshire to say a word in these memorial exercises 
about Gen. John Stark. 

This invitation is accepted with pleasure, because the 
early histor>' of the two States runs so much together, and 
especially that part which relates to the great event in the 
life of General Stark, that Vermont feels almost an equal 
interest in this occasion with New Hampshire. 

That event really touches Vermont history at one of its 
most heroic periods. It not only carries us back to the 
battle of Bennington, where Vermont men stood side by 
side with the men of New Hampshire, but it opens the 
whole chapter of the independent career of \'ermont as a 
State, as well as her long struggle for admission into the 
Union, of all of which the hero of Bennington was neither 
an indifferent nor a silent spectator. 

General Stark's victory at Bennington was so surpris- 
ing at the time, and still stands so prominently among the 
events of that day, that we naturally want to know some- 
thing of the men who stood in the ranks. Let me for a 
moment tell you about those from Vermont, and the fitting 
school they had for the work done on that occasion. 

The reader of history knows that the settlers on the 
New Hampshire Grants received their lands from the royal 
governor of the colony of New Hampshire, paying there- 
for the stipulated price ; and that later title to these lands 
was claimed by the royal governor of New York to be his 



Acceptance of the Statue of John Stark. 11 

by virtue of the royal grant to the Duke of York in 1764; 
and the settlers were called upon to pay a second time. 
This was thought to be once too often, and was resisted 
with spirit by those hardy pioneers, who were struggling 
for existence against the dififaculties and dangers of the 
wilderness, in which prowled alike the wild beast and the 
lurking savage. 

The New York claimants easily obtained writs of posses- 
sion from the New York courts for the lands, but in no 
instance did the settlers on the grants allow one of their 
number to be permanently ejected. This, of course, called 
for organization, and, as the result, the "Green Mountain 
Boys," as they called themselves, under Allen, Warner, 
and Baker, had, for more than seven years before St.\rk 
was at Bennington, been in a kind of border war in re- 
sistance to the attempted jurisdiction over them by the 
King's governor of the colony of New York. If he sent 
surveying parties upon the grants, as he did, the settlers 
drove them off. If he commissioned justices and other 
civil officers, they soon found official life at once a burden 
and a peril, and resigned or moved away. If officers went 
from Albany to serve process or make arrests in land mat- 
ters, they were, to use the language of an old report, 
"seized by the people and severely chastised with twigs of 
the wilderness." In these forays the sheriff always came 
off second best; and at one time, with a posse of seven 
hundrad and fifty New York militiamen, went back to 
Albany empty-handed. 

If by hook or by crook a New York grantee succeeded 
in displacing a settler, as was done by Colonel Reid and 
his tenants at the far-away mouth of Otter Creek — of 



78 Address of Mr. Grout on the 

Pangborn, who had been in possession with a paid-up title 
for twelve years — Allen and his men hastened to expel the 
intruder, which was done twice in this case, and the last 
time with notice not again to return, "on pain of suffering 
the displeasure of the Green Mountain Boys." At this 
juncture the governor of New York appealed to General 
Haldiman, commander in chief of the King's troops in 
America — this was in 1773 — for help in enforcing his au- 
thority on the grants, complaining that the militia could 
not be relied upon. This, however, the commanding 
general declined to do, expressing doubt as to the pro- 
priety of using regular troops for that purpose. 

But I must not" prolong this story, full of local interest 
as it is, and showing, as it does when fully told, the heroic 
struggle of the hardy settlers on the New Hampshire 
Grants in defense of their homes and their lives, which 
culminated in 1774 in a proclamation by the governor of 
New York and a counter proclamation by Allen and his 
men, from which an armed collision could not have been 
far away. But just then another war cloud loomed upon 
the horizon, obscuring and absorbing for the time all 
minor controversies. 

The cry of blood from Lexington and Concord on the 
19th day of April, 1775, rang like a tocsin in every home; 
and instantly every hamlet was astir with preparations for 
war, and every patriot breast on fire for action. The brave 
men on the New Hampshire Grants were no exception; 
but, on the contrary, were conspicuous for activity and 
valor. They forgot for the time their differences with New 
York, and, promptly changing front, gave battle to the 
common enemv. 



Acceptance of the Statue of John Stark. 79 

Not waiting for the Continental Congress, or any other 
authority except their own council of safety, on the loth 
day of May (only twenty-one days after the affair at Lex- 
ington) Allen, at the head of these intrepid men, captured 
the fortress at Ticonderoga, and upon a formula that has 
made his name immortal. On the same da\ these men 
also captured the garrisons at Crown Point and Skeensboro. 
And later we find Allen in unequal conflict with General 
Carleton at St. Johns, where he was unfortunately taken 
prisoner. And later still the same year we find Warner, 
with his "Green Mountain Boys," repulsing Carleton at 
Montreal and sending him by night, with mufiied oars, 
down the St. Lawrence to Quebec. And these (except 
Allen, who was still a prisoner of war in London) and 
others like them from the State of Vermont were the men 
whom Stark had to help him at Bennington. 

I said the State of Vermont. I should have said the 
independent State of Vermont, for such the New Hamp- 
shire Grants had become at the time of the battle of Ben- 
nington. 

The settlers on the grants, finding themselves in the 
midst of a great war, and on the very frontier between the 
contending forces, and without organization or allegiance, 
except as claimed b\- New York, to which they could 
never accede, just twenty days after the Declaration of 
Independence, to wit, on the 24th day of July, 1776, met 
in convention at Dorset, and, at an adjourned meeting the 
following January, declared their territory " to be forever 
thereafter a free and independent jurisdiction or State 
under the name of Vermont;" thus cutting loose from 
every other power or authority on the footstool, and 



80 Address of Mr. Grout on the 

acknowledging allegiance only to the Supreme Ruler of the 
Universe. And this little in dependent State so maintained 
herself for the period of fourteen years, and until her 
admission into the Union in 1791, all the time standing 
out as an independent power among the powers of the 
earth, with a sovereignty of her own, a currenc}' of her 
own, including coinage, with postal and excise laws — in 
fact, laws of every kind of her own, and withal with a na- 
tional policy of her own, which, firmly adhered to, at last 
secured for her an equal place in the Union of the States. 
The new State, of course, had a constitution. And that 
you may more fully understand the character of the men 
from Vermont who supported Stark at Bennington, let 
me read two brief sections from their constitution. 
In the very first section is found this language: 
No male person born in this country or brought from over sea shall 
be holden by law to serve any person as a servant, slave, or appren- 
tice after he arrives at the age of twenty-one years; nor female in 
like manner after she arrives at the age of eighteen years, unless they 
are bound by their own consent after they arrive at such age, or bound 
by law for the payment of debts, damages, fines, costs, or the like. 

This constitution was adopted July 8, 1777, ten years 
before the Federal Constitution and six months before the 
old Articles of Confederation — early, as you will see, in 
the era of written constitutions ; and yet, with slight alter- 
ations, it is the constitution of Vermont to-day, and a 
model of its kind, providing for every function of govern- 
ment — legislative, executive, and judicial — even to author- 
it}' for the establishment of a court of chancery, a branch 
of jurisprudence then in the infancy of its modern jurisdic- 
tion. But more notable than all this is the fact that it con- 
tained this prohibition of slavery, while every one of the 



Acceptance of the Statue of John Star/:. 81 

colonies tolerated the institution. And more notable still 
is the fact that it is the first constitutional prohibition of 
slavery ever put forth by any people anywhere, at any time, 
in the whole history of man. Yes, let it be written in 
letters of gold that the "Green Mountain Boys" were the 
first in all the earth to write in their organic law an abso- 
lute interdiction of an institution which had run with the 
history of the race, and which all the more enlightened 
nations have since copied, and at last, though in blood, 
has been written in tlie Constitution of our common 
country. 

The other section in that remarkable constitution which 
I wish to read is as follows: 

No man ought to, or of right can, be compelled to attend any 
religious worship, or erect or support any place of worship, or main- 
tain any minister contrary to the dictates of his conscience ; nor 
can any man be justly deprived or abridged of any civil right as a 
citizen on account of his religious sentiments or peculiar mode of 
religious worship; and that no authority can, or ought to, be vested 
in or assumed by any power whatever that shall in any case interfere 
with or in any manner control the rights of conscience in a free 
religious worship. 

Xow, here was a clean departure by New England men 
from New England laws, customs, and traditions. Here 
was a declaration for a complete separation of church and 
state, while at that time throughout New England, except 
Rhode Island alone, the church and state were so united 
that it was difficult to distinguish between the two. All • 
were taxed by law for the support of the established wor- 
ship, and all were compelled to wait on its ministrations. 

In those early New England days no one could vote 
unless he belonged to the church, and one's influence in 
6 s-w 



82 Address of Mr. Croul on Ihr 

public life was always measured by his observance of its 
rites and ceremonies. In that day this was a universal con- 
dition ; no power on the face of the globe existed without a 
state religion. And to this late day it remains, though in 
modified form, a disturbing question in English politics, 
the great Gladstone having closed one of the most bril- 
liant careers in English history and left to his successors in 
office the difficult and delicate work of disestablishing the 
church. 

But the men on the New Hampshire Grants took tli£ 
centuries by the forelock. When they flung in the face of 
all the world the flag of their free State, they said it shall 
be free indeed ; .shall forever be the dwelling place of com- 
plete civil and religious liberty. They said the church 
shall not be supported on compulsion of law, but by vol- 
untary contribution, as it is to-day throughout all this 
broad land. 

.Mr. Speaker, let it not be thought that this was the decla- 
ration of a wild, wayward .set of fellows with more courage 
than conscience. The last clause of this free religious sec- 
tion .shows that they were not only liberty-loving but God- 
fearing men. It is as follows: 

Nevertheless, every sect or denomination of Christians ougln to 
observe the Sabbath or Lord's Day, and keep up some sort of rehgious 
worship which to them shall seem most agreeable to the revealed will 
of (}od. 

And the first legislature under this constitution, till 
special statutes could be adopted, declared the laws "'as 
they stand in the Connecticut law book, and in defect of 
such laws the plain word of God as contained in the Holy 
Scripture, to be the law of the land." And in further 



Aacptnnce of the Staliir of John S/ark. ' X.'5 

proof that these were not irreverent men, tlie second legis- 
lature passed a law punishing blasphemy with death, and 
profane s\vearin.<^, cursing, lying, and drunkenness with 
silling in the stocks. 

Hut enough. This constitution was adopted at Wind- 
sor, July S, 1777, only thirty-nine days before the Ixilllc 
of Bennington ; and as it was beuig read, paragraph l)y 
paragraph, for the last time, a courier arrived in Iml haste 
from the west side with information of the fall of Ticon- 
deroga and that Burgoyne was advancing in hea\-y force 
along both sides of Lake Champlain. 

To quote from myself on another occasion: "Here was 
indeed an awful crisis, one beyond the control of consti- 
tutions or conventions and for which the only cure was 
bayonets and bullets, which certain and effective remed>- 
every man in that convention felt that he knew how to 
administer; and some were for instant adjournuKul and 
immediate work on Burgoyne's flank. Allen in his his- 
tory says they would have adjourned only for a terrific 
thunderstorm, which detained them in the building. But 
they did not adjourn, and there, amid salvos of hca\en's 
artillery, these men completed their work, laying broad 
and deep the foundations of civil and religious liberty, and 
marking, as by a milestone, an era in constitutional gov- 
ernment. They appointed a committee of safety, called on 
New Hampshire and Massachusetts for help, and adjourned 
and hurried over tlie mountain to pay their respects to 
General Burgoyne." 

And these are the men, these constitution m.ikers and 
such as these from the new independent State of WTUiont, 
who were at Bennington on the memorable i6th of August 



84 ■ Address of Mi: Groitt on the 

with Stark, who had brought over the mountains from 
New Hampshire brave men of equal character; for among 
the number, and probably a fair sample of the lot, was 
Capt. Ebenezer Webster, father of the godlike Daniel, the 
great Constitution expounder, whose statue stands along- 
side that of Stark in yonder Hall, and whose name is writ 
with his high on the scroll of fame. 

How little these men could have thought that this sub- 
lime portion awaited them, when Daniel, a young lawyer 
at Portsmouth, on his way to the courts in Concord, and 
Stark, living in the retirement of his farm, met at the 
old hotel in Hookset, and the hero of Bennington spoke of 
the sale of himself at one time for forty pounds, and was 
ready to believe Daniel was the son of Captain Webster 
because of the same deep, swarthy color of his face, only 
"blacker." 

But let us for a moment see how Stark happened to be 
at Bennington. We left the courier at Windsor on July 8 
with information of Burgoyne's advance, which was, of 
course, forwarded to the New Hampshire council of safety, 
and must have been received not later than the 1 1 th or 
1 2th. 

The Vermont council of safety had learned from the 
affair at Hubbardton that without assistance they were 
powerless against Burgoyne's ten thousand, flanked by 
merciless savages, who thought only of scalps, and on July 
13, from Manchester, addressed a formal appeal to the New 
Hampshire council, asking for help, and reminding them 
that when Vermont was subjugated New Hampshire her- 
self would be on the frontier. This appeal was addressed 
to New Hampshire because there was no time in which to 



Acceptance of the Statue of John Stark. 85 

reach Congress or the commander in chief of the Conti- 
nental army; and tlie polic\- of Schuyler, commanding in 
that quarter, was to draw everything from Vermont and 
concentrate at Stillwater, in which the independent State 
of Vermont did not believe. 

The patriotic spirit of New Hampshire was at fever 
heat. Her general court was in session, and she responded 
nobly and promptly. On July 19 the president of her 
council notified the Vermont council that orders were then 
issuing for three battalions under General St.\rk to go to 
their assistance, and that they should depend upon the 
people of Vermont to provision them; and also asking to 
have some proper person meet General St.\rk at Number 
Four (Charlestown) to explain the situation and conduct 
him over the mountains. 

On July 30 Stark was in Charlestown, calling on the 
New Hampshire council for kettles and bullet molds, say- 
ing there was but one pair in the place. 

Think of it ! One pair of bullet molds for an arm\- ! 

On August 2 he again wrote from Charlestown: 

Brigade not yet complete. • * * Would have sent account 
of strength, but troops arrive in small parties and are sent forward 
in small divisions. Shall leave one company here and two on 
height of land between this place and Otter Creek to protect the 
inhabitants. 

On .\ugust 6 he was at Peru, on the mountain top; on 
.\ugust 7 at Manchester, and on August g at Bennington. 
Only twenty days from the time he received orders he had 
recruited and equipped his little army and had it on the 
grottnd. Napoleon never moved with greater promptitude 
nor greater celerity. .-Ynd he, you will remember, when 



86 Address of Mr. Grout on the 

asked wh}- it was that he always whipped the Austrians, 
replied: "Because they do not understand the value of 
five minutes of time." It should be remembered that these 
men from New Hampshire were not in the service, but 
came up straight from their homes on call of the council. 
But why did Stark stop at Bennington? Why did he not 
join Schuyler at Stillwater, as at Manchester he received 
orders from that general to do? 

Some have criticised General Stark for not obeying 
Schuyler's order, and others have claimed he did obey. 
But it should be remembered that Stark did not receive 
his authority from Congress, but from the council of safety 
of New Hampshire, and upon express condition that he was 
not, unless he chose, to report to or obey any Continental 
officer or the Continental Congress, from whose service he 
had just resigned ; that he was, in short, to cooperate with 
the troops in Vermont or elsewhere as he thought best 
for the protection of the people and the annoyance of the 
enemv; and when General Lincoln presented Schuyler's 
order at Manchester, Stark undoubtedly explained the 
independent nature of his command and declined to be 
ordered bv him. This is quite clear from the fact that on 
Lincoln's report to Schuyler and his to Washington Con- 
gress proceeded on the 19th, three days after the battle, to 
censure the New Hampshire council for sending Stark out 
in that irregular way. And yet, in a letter to the Hartford 
Courant of August 18, two days after the battle, speak- 
ing of this order, Stark says: 

In obedience thereto I marched with my brigade to Bennington 
on my way to join him (Schuyler), leaving that part of the country 
(about Manchester) almost naked to the ravage of the enemy. 



Acceptance of tlic Statue of Jolui Stark. 87 

Now, from this it would seem that while Stark had sig- 
nified to Lincoln that he could not be ordered by Schuyler 
or any other authority except the New Hampshire council 
of safety, yet he had gone to Bennington, in the direction 
of Schuyler, not being fully decided but that he might 
join him in case he thought it best for the cause, as after 
the battle he in fact did. 

But why did he stop at Bennington, where he von a 
brilliant victory, which was the very first streak of light 
in the Continental struggle? He tells us why in this same 
letter. 

In the very next sentence he sa}s: 

The honorable the council then sitting at Bennington were much 
against my marching with my brigade, as it was raised on their re- 
quest, they apprehending great danger of the enemy approaching to 
that place, which afterwards we found truly to be the case. They 
also happily agreed to postpone giving orders to the militia to march. 

Of course they did. They never for a moment thought 
of sending the Vermont militia to Schuyler till the storm 
had swept past them ; and they persuaded Stark that if 
he would but stop with them there would soon be business 
for them all, as there was. They knew, for they had 
dwelt upon it so long that with them it was a \erit\-, and 
Stark, with quick military intuition, instantly saw that 
Burgoyne would not move on to Stillwater without reach- 
ing out, as he passed, for the valuable stores at Benning- 
ton, which were so much needed by his army. 

Why, the men of this council of safety, who Stark says 
in this same letter were just from general State convention 
at Windsor, could not only make constitutions, having 
just turned out one thai overlapped the progressive growth 



88 Address of Mr. Grout on the 

of public oiDinion for a hundred years, but thev could also 
plan campaigns. Their whole lifetime had been a con- 
tinuous campaign in defense of their homes, their lands, 
and their lives. They took nothing for granted, but were 
ever on the alert; and as early as July ,15, at Manchester, 
foresaw the battle of Bennington. In a circular to the 
militia officers, among other things, they said (using the 
capitals and spelling of the original): 

The Continental Stores at Bennington seem to be their prese.it 
aim. You will be supplied with provisions here on your arrival. 
Pray send all the Troops you can Possibly Raise; we can Repulse 
them if we have assistance. 

And again, on the 13th of August, at Bennington, they 
sent an order to Colonel Marsh, saying: 

There are therefore the most Positive terms to require you with- 
out a moments Loss of time to march one-half of the Regiment 
under your Command to this Place. 

There will Doubtless be an attack at or near this Place within 
twenty-four howers. We have the assistance of General Stark with 
his Brigade. You will hurry what Rangers forward are Recruted. 
Now is the Tune, Sir. 

And it turned out that it was the time. 

But I must not dwell on the battle of Bennington. It was 
a small affair in numbers, but out of all proportion thereto 
in results. Stark had with him from New Hampshire 
eight hundred men, and from Vermont, then sparsely popu- 
lated, six hundred men, and probably one hundred and fifty 
from the Berkshire Hills in Massachusetts, near by ; only 
fifteen or sixteen hundred all told. But every man was there 
because he wanted to be. He was there to strike for lib- 
erty, for ii:dependence, and against the monarchical idea in 



Acceptance of the Statue of John Stark. S9 

government. And what chance had the savages, the Tories, 
the Hessian hirelings, or the King's troops against such 
men, among whom was a pastor and his flock, and all of 
whom were imbued with something of the spirit of those 
of old, of whom it was said: "Fi\e of you shall chase a 
hundred, and a hundred of >-ou shall put ten thousand to 
flight"'? 

Verily, these men, though few, were a host, and their 
leader was every way worthy to command them. He was 
no novice in war. He was a veteran of that seven \ears 
struggle between the French and English for supremacy 
on this continent. He was in the successful defense of 
Fort William Henry in 1757; was with Lord Howe in his 
unsuccessful assault on Ticonderoga in 175S; was with 
Amherst at its reduction in 1759; was on the left of the 
line at Bunker Hill, where the redcoats were three times 
repulsed, and was the last to retire; was with Washington 
at Trenton and Princeton, and in all these encounters he 
was brave and capable. He was every inch a soldier and 
he knew it, and now that he had an independent com- 
mand he proposed to show the Continental Congress, whose 
favor he seems not to have gained, that he could fight and 
win; that he knew — 

When to advance, or stand, or turn the sway 
Of battle; open when, and when to close 
The ridges of grim war. 

He chafed like a caged lion all day that rainy 15th while 
the enemy was throwing up his intrenchments, but in the 
morning made his dispositions for attack, and in such a wa>- 
that when the game came down he would bag it ; for, though 
the enemy was behind breastworks, with artillery, and he 



90 Address of Mr. Grout on the 

had none, he was confident of victory, and victory was his, 
though not without the "hottest" fight this soldier of a 
dozen battles had ever seen, and of which he said in his 
official' report that ' ' had every man been an Alexander or 
Charles of Sweden he could not have behaved better." 

The poet has presented Stark at Bennington in the fol- 
lowing lines: 

When on that field his band the Hessians fought, 

Briefly he spoke before the fight began: 
"Soldiers, those German gentlemen were bought 
For four pounds eight and sevenpence per man 
By England's King; a bargain it is thought. 

Are we worth more? Let's prove it while we can; 
For we must beat them, boys, ere set of sun, 
Or my wife sleeps a widow "—It was done. 

Yes, "it was done." The day was ours, with four brass 
cannon, two of which now guard the State capitol of Ver- 
mont, and the other two ought to guard that of Hew 
Hampshire; one thousand stand of arms, forty-four offi- 
cers, and seven hundred and fifty prisoners, with two hun- 
dred and seven of the enemy, as St.\rk reported, "killed 
on the spot." 

Yes, "it was done." But at one time the fate of the 
day hung trembling in the balance. It was after the pa- 
triots had finished Baum, charging over his breastworks 
and capturing his cannon, with hardly a bayonet, with 
only fowling pieces, and after they supposed and Stark 
supposed the battle was won, and after the troops had 
scattered, some pursuing and gathering up and others 
guarding prisoners, some seeking refreshments and others 
collecting the spoils of victory, when of a sudden Brey- 
man's bugles sounded his approach with a thousand fresh 



Acceptance of the Statue of Joint Stark. SI I 

men and two field pieces. This officer in his report says: 
"The cannon were posted on a road where there was a log 
house. This we fired into, as it was occupied by rebels." 
And later he says, "We then repulsed them on all sides." 

It was a critical moment. Was it possible for Stark to 
rail}- his scattered men, weary with the work of one bat- 
tle, and fight another? In his report he says: "Luckily 
for us, Colonel Warner's regiment came up, which put a 
stop to their career. We soon rallied, and in a few min- 
utes the action became very warm and desperate, which 
lasted until night." Not more timely nor more decisive 
of the day was the arrival of Dessaix at Marengo or of 
Blucher at Waterloo than was the coming of those one 
hundred and fifty fresh men. of Warner's regiment, who 
had marched from Manchester, under Major Safford, after 
the battle was set at Bennington, Warner himself having 
been all day with Stark in the fight. 

Who will say what the result of that day's business 
might have been only for the arrival, in the very nick of 
time, of those "Green Mountain Boys," who with impet- 
uous zeal went immediately into action, and, as Stark 
himself says, " put an end to their career." Who will say 
what the entry by the Muse of History against the name 
of John Stark might have been had not those fresh men 
"put a stop to their career," and enabled Stark to say: 
"We soon rallied," etc. ? Probably no one can appreciate 
the significance of this question more completely than did 
the old hero himself, for in his letter to General Gates he 
says: "Colonel Warner's superior skill in the action was 
of extraordinar)' service to me. I would be glad if he and 
his men could be remembered by Congress." And from 



0:2 Address 0/ Mr. Grout on the 

that day forth General Stark always held the warmest 
friendship toward the people of Vermont. 

But the battle was won, and Stark's name and fame are 
now the common heritage of the American people, chal- 
lenging always their applause and gratitude. The results 
of this victory were indeed far reaching, and its effect upon 
the colonial cause, loaded down with two years of disaster 
and discouragement, was almost magical. Since the cap- 
ture of Ticonderoga and Crown Point by Allen in 1775 
on substantial victory had crowned the Continental arms 
in any quarter. And now Burgoyne, with a splendidly 
equipped army, was to march from Canada to New York 
by way of Albany and the Hudson, thereby impressing 
the people with the invincibility of the King's troops and 
the great advantage of the King's protection. Men will not 
long stand up for a government that can not protect them. 

Ticonderoga, long considered "the key to North Amer- 
ica," had fallen before Burgoyne' s triumphal march, of 
which Schuyler wrote: 

An event so alarming has not happened since the contest began. 

In some places it was the occasion of fasting and prayer. 
The Tory everywhere raised his head, and the Whig was 
filled with fear. Meanwhile Burgoyne was moving toward 
the Hudson, all the time holding in each hand the King's 
ready pardon and protection for his loving subjects, and 
his army was all the time increasing by Tory recruits, 
while the desertions from St. Clair's army as it fell back 
from Ticonderoga were fearful to contemplate. On July 14 
General Schuyler wrote Washington from Fort Edward : 

I am informed a very great proportion of the inhabitants are tak- 
ing protection from General Burgoyne, as most of those in this 



Acceptance of the Statue of John Stark. 03 

quarter are willing to do. Desertions prevail and disease gains 
gnjund; nor is it to be wondered, for we have neither tents, houses, 
barns, boards, or shelter, except a little brush. Every rain that falls, 
and we have it in great abundance almost every day, wets the men 
to the skin. We are, besides, in great want of every kind of neces- 
sary, provision excepted. We have camp kettles so few that we 
can not afford one to twenty men. 

Washington was almost discouraged. August 7, nine 
days before the battle of Bennington, he wrote Schu\ler- 

.\s matters are going on. General Burgoyne will find little ditii- 
culty in penetrating to Albany. 

And again he wrote: 

Could we be so happy as to cut off one of his detachments, sup- 
posing it should not exceed four, five, or six hundred men, it would 
inspire the people and do away with much of the present anxiety. 
In such an event they would lose sight of past misfortunes, fly to 
arms, and afford every aid in their power. 

While Washington was praying Stark perfonned ; this, 
only on a larger scale, was just what he did at Bennington, 
and Washington's prediction was verified. It electrified 
the colonies. Handbills giving the news went out from 
Boston. Town-criers throughout all New England pro- 
claimed it. Bonfires were built, bells were rung, and again 
the colonies were aglow with a spirit of patriotism and valor. 
All had been darkness, but light was breaking. Bur- 
goyne' s army was no longer looked upon as invincible. 
Stark had revealed the fact that it could be beaten, and 
badly beaten, too ; that Indians, Tories, Hessians, Cana- 
dian volunteers, and British regulars could all be over- 
whelmed together. 

The wise new prudence from the wise acquire. 
And one brave hero fans another's fire. 



94 Address of Mr. Grout on the 

Instead of desertions there were now enlistments. Not 
only this, but no more Tories rallied to Burgoyne's stand- 
ard. They did not contemplate with satisfaction the treat- 
ment of their brethren taken prisoners at Bennington, who 
were tied two and two with bedcords, furnished by the 
Bennington housewives, and then fastened to a horse and 
marched through the streets amid the jeers and gibes and 
thnists of the indignant crowd. The victory at Benning- 
ton wrought a complete change in the atmosphere of the 
northern department. The Indians even took it in. Gov- 
ernor Clinton wrote: 

Since that affair not an Indian has been heard of; the scalping 
has ceased. 

And later .two htindred and fifty Indians in a body left 
Btirgoyne's army and joined the American forces. 

When Washington heard the news from Bennington he 
said: "One more such stroke and we shall have no great 
cause of anxiety as to the designs of Great Britain." And 
in writing Putnam he expressed the hope that New Eng- 
land would follow up the blow struck by Stark and crush 
Burgoyne. And she did; October 17 told the story. Sara- 
toga was the place. 

But he received his deathblow the i6th of August. On 
the i8th, two days after the battle, in a letter to Lord Ger- 
main, explaining the difficulties that beset him, he said, 
among other things: 

The Hampshire Grants in particular, a country unpeopled and 
almost unknown in the last war, now abounds in the most warlike 
and rebellious race of the continent, and hangs like a gathering storm 
on my left. 

Burgoyne was both surprised and stttpefied. The Baron- 
ess Reidesel, then with her husband in the British camp, 



Acceptance of tlie Statue of John Stark. 95 

well explained the changed condition when slie wrote: 
"This unfortunate event paralyzed at once our operations." 

Could Burgoyne have foreseen the storm that was gath- 
ering for him at Stillwater, set in motion by Stark's in- 
spiriting example at Bennington, and have pushed forward 
■without delay, he might have connected with Sir Henry 
Clinton on the Lower Hudson, or, acting seasonably, he 
might have fallen back on Canada. 

But after this unexpected blow at Bennington he seemed 
to drift in a bewildered, aimless way, till Warner, with his 
"Green Mountain Boys," had cut off all chance of retreat 
by capturing the transports on the lakes, and at last the 
most powerful army that ever entered America from Can- 
ada was surrendered and largely absorbed into American 
citizenship; and Burgoyne, the pet of the ministry, went 
home in disgrace and out of sight forever. And John 
Stark was the man who dealt him the stunning blow 
that ended his career! 

But enough. Stark never forgot how the \'ermonters 
helped him out on that greatest day of his life; and in that 
prolonged and varying struggle of the people of \'ermont 
for admission into the Union, which lasted in all fourteen 
years, and was full of novel situations and dangerous com- 
plications, Stark was all the time their consistent and 
faithful friend. And when by a certain act of Congress in 
1781 he supposed Vermont was to be admitted as a State, 
in honor of the surrender of Cornwallis he fired a salute of 
fourteen guns at Saratoga, where he was i;i command, one 
being for the new State of Vermont. 

It is true, however, when the twelve towns in New 
York and the thirty-five in New Hampshire were so 



96 Address of Mr. Grout on the 

attracted by the constitution and government of Vermont 
that they left their allegiance to their respective States 
and asked to be annexed to the new independent State of 
Vermont, Stark, who was then in command at Albany, 
was much troubled on account of his Vermont friends. 
He could not consent to the dismemberment of his own 
State, and his official position compelled him to disap- 
prove the encroachment upon New York. This somewhat 
strained but did not break the friendly tie that bound him 
to Vermont. 

When he supposed Vermont was admitted as a State, he 
wrote Governor Chittenden as follows: 

Alhanv. August 27, 1 781. 

M\ Dear Sir; I only waited the prudent and happy determi- 
nation of Congress to congratulate you upon the interesting and 
important decision in your favor. Be assured, sir, that no inter- 
vening circumstance on the grand political system of America 
since the war began has given me more real pleasure than to hear 
of your acceptance into the Union — a measure that 1 do now and 
always did think was highly compatible with the real interest of 
the country. It is with difficulty I can determine in my own mind 
why it has been postponed to this late hour; but perhaps Congress 
had motives that we aie strangers to. The best and wisest mortals 
are liable to err. 

I am very happy to acquaint you that the people in this city 
sh ;w very much of the highest solicitude upon the matter, fully 
convinced that to be separate will be more for the interest of both 
States than to be united. 

To have been connected with New Hampshire is what many in 
the State would have been very sorry for, r^s very inconvenient and 
expensive for both bodies of people, and no real good resulting 
from such connection. Therefore, I am of the opinion that every 
man who consulted the public interest must be an advocate for sep- 
aration; for had they been connected there would have ever been 



Acceptance of the Statue of Jo/in Stark. 97 

a jealousy between the two States which would have been infallibly 
dangerous to both. But that jealousy, by the separation, must 
entirely subside, and New Hampshire and Vermont live in perfect 
friendship as sister States. 

That Vermont in its government may be happy and a stranger to 
internal jars is the ardent wish, my dear sir, of your most obedient 
servant, 

John Stark. 

To Governor Chittenden. 

The action of Congress referred to by Stark was for the 
appointment of a commission, which Vermont had reasons 
for believing would divide the State along the mountain 
range between New York and New Hampshire, and she 
promptly rejected the Congressional plan, refusing in a 
most spirited manner to accept anything short of uncondi- 
tional admission. 

This was in 1781, and Stark wondered why admission 
"had been postponed to that late hour." Vermont was 
not admitted till 1791, ten years thereafter; ten years of 
struggling and waiting, of diplomacy and war, of border 
raids and internal tumults, the whole story of which would 
read more like romance than a plain recital of actual facts. 
But this is aside. 

New Hampshire is fortunate in the selection of charac- 
ters for Statuary Hall. Stark and Webster are great 
names in the Granite State, great throughout the country, 
and great with all English-speaking peoples. 

Vermont congratulates New Hatnpshire, and welcomes 
these her sons in commemorative marble to the com- 
panionship of the great in marble and bronze from other 
States. The hero of Ticonderoga from Vermont welcomes 
the hero of Bennington from New Hampshire. There let 
7 s — w 



98 Address of Mr. Grout on the 

them stand, typical soldiers of typical States, conteinpo- 
raries in life and in the sculptured renown of death. The 
eminent lawyer, jurist, and statesman, Jacob Collamer, who 
came nearer making good the place of Webster in the 
Senate than any other man of his time, now welcomes that 
great lawN'er, orator, and statesman to that silent illustri- 
ous assemblage. 

Vermont will always welcome these men ; for Stark 
was with her in war and Webster counseled her in peace, 
his words still ringing throughout the State from the 
summit of the Green Mountains, where, standing beside a 
log cabin in 1840, near the place where Stark crossed on 
his way to Bennington, he spoke, making clear then, as 
always, the points of a political faith in which Vermont is 
as steadfast as her heavenly neighbor, the North Star, and 
her light equally constant. 

Yes, Vermont, in common with all the States of this 
now "glorious Union," welcomes the return of Daniel 
Webster to the Capitol, and there in jonder hall let him 
forever stand amid the undying echoes of those mighty 
words which have not only made his name immortal, but 
which have been burned into the very hearts of the Ameri- 
can people by the fires of civil war, "Liberty and Union, 
now and forever, one and inseparable." 



Acceptance of the Statue of Jolni Stark. 



ADDRESS OF Mr. BLAIR 

Mr. Speaker: John Stark was the military genius of 
the Revolutionary war. Independent as he was intrepid, 
and conscious that his judgment was unerring, impatient 
of restraint which he knew to be founded in error, and 
irascible under ill treatment which touched his honor as a 
soldier, he was not always a model of unquestioning sub- 
ordination, and was better adapted to command alone than 
toserve under mediocrity. But no one can study his personal 
character and trace his work without conceding that no 
military man of his time, except George Washington, ren- 
dered more important service to the cause of American 
independence, and that in purely martial achievements his 
were the most brilliant of any rendered by the officers of 
the Continental army. 

He was a natural commander in chief; but the highest 
capacity to command implies the highest capacity to obey, 
and no man ever served more loyally than Stark did his 
superior officer. Yet such was the strength of his genius 
and his boldness, vigor, circumspection, celerity, skill, and 
success in action that in every important battle or cam- 
paign in which he was engaged he was at the front of 
affairs; and as wherever Macgregor sat was the head of the 
table, so wherever Stark fought was the head of the army 
and the turning point of the battle. 

Where he was, something important was always going on. 
He spent his time in doing decisive things, and so it came 
to pass that it is hardly too much to say that John Stark 



100 Address of Mr. Blair on the 

was the turning point of the war for American independ- 
ence. Without him Bunker Hill would have been a use- 
less slaughter and a precedent of subsequent defeats and 
general demoralization, instead of a substantial victory and 
the harbinger of hope and ultimate success. Trenton 
would probably have been a failure; Bennington would 
never have been fought at all; Burgoyne would have made 
good his attempted retreat and escape from Gates back into 
Canada, and there would have been no surrender at Sara- 
toga. Without Saratoga there would have been no French 
alliance, no Yorktown, no independence, no happy, free, 
united America. 

I shall not trespass upon the time of the House with 
much of the detail of the life of this remarkable man. My 
colleague and other gentlemen will do his fame more 
ample justice. Yet I desire to sketch very briefly a few of 
the salient points in his marvelous career which justify 
the high eulogiums which have been pronounced upon it 
and the action of New Hampshire in selecting him from 
among her many illustrious and gallant sons as the most 
conspicuous and useful of all of them who have fought for 
the independence and glorj' of their country. 

Like so many of the great men of America, Gen. John 
Stark was of that wonderful Scotch-Irish stock which 
emigrated from the north of Ireland and settled in several 
of the colonies during the early part of the last century. 
His father, Archibald Stark, was a graduate of the Uni- 
versity of Glasgow, and brought with him to the New 
Hampshire wilderness the energy of his race and the cul- 
ture of that renowned institution. He was one of the first 
settlers of Londonderry, N. H., and was one of the leading 



Acceptance of the Statue of Jolni Stark. 101 

men in tliat extraordinary bod> of emigrants, who brought 
with them the best development of civilization in common 
life then existing on earth, and whose descendants have 
maintained the same relative position ever since ; have 
spread through the continent, always at the front and mold- 
ing the development of society by the principles and abili- 
ties inherited from their ancestors. It is not too much to 
say of the Scotch-Irish settlement founded at Londonderry 
in the year of our Lord 1719 that no like community has 
exerted a greater influence upon the nation and the world. 
The whole people seemed to be instinct with an elevated 
and creative energy, and leadership has been the natural 
function of their descendants wherever' they have been 
found. 

John Stark was born at Londonderry, within a few 
miles of what is now the city of Manchester — itself located 
upon a part of the territory covered by the settlement and 
one of its descendants — in the year 1728, and died upon his 
homestead, now in the suburbs of the city, in the year 
1822, almost ninety-four years of age, and, except General 
Sumter, the last surviving general officer of the Revolu- 
tionary war. He was one of many children, and was edu- 
cated by his father so far as their stern environment would 
permit. 

At the age of sixteen years, having penetrated the wil- 
derness as far as where the town of Rumney, in Grafton 
County, is now situated, with his brother William and two 
other men, named Eastman and Stinson, on a hunting ex- 
pedition, he was captured by the Indians and carried to 
Canada, where he remained nearly a year, learning thor- 
oughly the character of the Indians and their methods ot 
warfare. 



102 Address Oj Mr. Blair on the 

The Indians also learned something of Stark. After 
his capture, with his own death threatened as a conse- 
quence, he shouted to his companions to escape; when 
forced to run the gantlet, he so vigorously belabored the 
two lines of young Indian braves, whose business it was to 
castigate him, that they were glad to get out of his way; 
when ordered to hoe their corn he flatly refused to do the 
work of squaws, cut up the corn, and threw his hoe into 
the river, and thereby won the admiration of the chief, 
and was treated as a son during the remainder of his cap- 
tivity. 

After his ransom and return to Londonderry his services 
were sought to aid in the exploration of the northern part 
of New Hampshire and Vermont, along the borders of 
Canada, which was the bloody ground debated for nearly a 
century between the French and Indians on the one side 
and the English settlements on the other. During all this 
time the situation was little better than one of savage war- 
fare. That wonderful frontier people were always ready 
for massacre and death, but generally preferred to take 
time by the forelock, and came off, as a rule, best in the 
perpetual encounter with the wild beast, the still wilder 
and more savage Indian — who too often was inspired by 
the vindictive and relentless cruelty of civilized men — 
and with nature herself, who in that early day was the 
most stubbornly hostile of them all. 

Throughout the French and Indian war, which began 
in 1756 and ended in 1763 with the subjugation and ces- 
sion of all the continental French possessions to Great 
Britain, Stark was engaged in active service. He was a 
captain in the famous regiment of Rodgers's rangers. On 



Acceptance of the Statue of John Stark. 103 

several occasions he exhibited his superiority as a com- 
mander under the most difficult circumstances; more than 
once saved the army and important positions by his vigi- 
lance, daring, and skill; became the confidant and favorite 
of Lord Howe, the ablest and most beloved British officer 
of his time, and returned home at the close of the war 
the real inferior of no fighting man in America. 

Then he married and raised a family, which was the 
main business of our fathers, as, indeed, it is of man in 
all the ages. He was, however, ardently alive to every- 
thing pertaining to the public welfare; and as the contest 
for independence came on there was no more stanch and 
determined patriot than John Stakk. 

When the embattled farmers stood arrayed at Lexington 
and Concord "and fired the shot heard round the world," 
his ear caught the familiar sound of war, and, quitting his 
sawmill, he leaped upon his horse and galloped to Boston, 
rallying the people on his way. 

As the aroused sons of liberty gathered from all New 
England and beleaguered the city of Boston, where Gage 
was with the British army, three regiments of New Hamp- 
shire troops were organized. Stark commanded one of 
them at Bunker Hill, and here was rendered his first great 
service in the Revolutionary war. It is not probable that 
there was so ripe and able an officer at that moment on 
either side as John Stark. 

The story of the battle is a familiar one. The ardor of 
the aroused Americans could not be restrained, but could 
hardly be directed with precision and good effect because of 
the lack of time for that discipline and experience in the 
field which alone can make an army. 



104 Address of Mr. Blair on the 

Determined to drive the British from Boston, if possible, 
and at all events to fight, the Americans seized an advanced 
position in the night and threw up a small redoubt on 
Breed's Hill, in Charlestown, which was tolerably com- 
plete by noon of the next day, the immortal i7tli day of 
June, 1775, and filled with about one thousand men, under 
the command of Colonel Prescott, of Massachusetts, one of 
the bravest of the brave and a cool and able officer. 

The astonished Gage, in command of the English forces, 
stared and held his breath until the day was well advanced, 
but then determined at once to dislodge and destroy the 
rash and impudent rebel horde. 

Three thousand of the choicest veterans of Europe 
moved across the bay to storm the redoubt. The rear of 
the earthwork was indefensible, and on the left slope of 
the hill, between it and the water, there were no defenses, 
nor was it possible to prepare any of importance. There 
Stark and his regiment, with gallant troops from other 
States, took position in the open field, with no defense but 
a few rails covered with fresh-mown hay to oppose the 
charge of the English, who sought to turn the redoubt, 
while a part of their forces moved directly up the hill to 
engage the garrison. 

Three times the farmers repulsed the veterans, and the 
British dead in front of the rail fence where Stark com- 
manded "lay thick as sheep in a fold," when the ammu- 
nition of the patriots failed and Warren fell. Driven from 
the redoubt, its exhausted but still resolute defenders, 
under the lion-like Prescott, were shot and bayoneted by 
scores, and would have died in their tracks or have been 
utterly routed and captured in a body but for the troops 



Acceptance of the Statue of John Stark. 105 

who fought in the open under Stark checking the prog- 
ress of the victorious foe. Finally they effected a retreat 
across the peninsula upon the main army, with a total loss 
to the Americans of one-fourth that suffered by the soldiers 
of King George. Bunker Hill was a victory. True that 
the enemy captured the position, but in their triumphant 
retreat the patriots carried off the honors of war, and 
Stark and his brave New Hampshire men, as they fell 
back grimly from the seashore to the continent, carried 
with them the uew-born independence of America just de- 
livered on that bloody field. More than half the men who 
fought at Bunker Hill were from my own beloved State! 
What if that battle had been a rout? What would have 
been the result of the Revolutionary war? What would 
have been the fate of America if New Hampshire and 
Stark had not fought at Bunker Hill ? 

Eighteen months later and the scene of action had 
changed to the Middle States. Washington was on the 
Delaware and hope was dead. But that great chieftain 
would do his duty still. The time of the New Hampshire 
troops had expired, but Stark aroused them to volunteer 
for si.x weeks more, so that one last battle might yet be 
made for liberty. 

In the council of war Stark said to the commander in 
chief: "If we are ever to win our independence we must 
teach the army to depend upon their firearms and their 
courage ; their guns and not their shovels." 

Washington replied that he proposed to, and that they 
should have a fight. They crossed the Delaware. Stark 
led the advance guard under Sullivan, who commanded 
the right wing of the army; Washington and Greene, the 



106 Address of Mr. PI air on the 

left. The right charged first into the town, Stark at the 
head of the column, or, as Wilkinson says, "the dauntless 
Stark, who dealt death wherever he found resistance and 
broke down all opposition before him." Meanwhile the 
left wing had moved in a more circuitous route and the 
army was soon reunited in the decisive victory of Trenton. 
Princeton followed. Stark ever at the front, for he never 
was anywhere else. 

Once more God had almost visibly interposed for us, and 
the people took courage. 

Medals of honor have been awarded to brave men who 
fought in the late war when their terms of enlistment were 
over, but the men of New Hampshire volunteered in 
masses when their service was done, and they were in rags, 
without pay, and their families suffering at home, to march 
many miles on frozen ground with bleeding feet in a cause 
then so hopeless that it must have seemed more like a pro- 
cession to meet the doom of traitors than a march to victory 
in the cause of freedom. 

Soon after his extraordinary services on the Delaware 
Colonel Stark resigned his commission and returned to his 
home in New Hampshire. 

Congress had done him a grave personal injustice m the 
promotion of an inferior officer under circumstances which 
inflicted great humiliation upon his stem, proud spirit. 
He declared that a man who would not resent personal dis- 
honor was unworthy to mingle with soldiers, and that not 
to resign would tend to demoralize the army. But his 
patriotism was as strong as ever, and he immediately fitted 
out all of his family and servants capable of bearing arms 
and dispatched them to the army, and warned the Congress 



Acceptance of tlie Statue of John Stark. 107 

of the dangerous condition of Ticonderoga, a warning 
which, if heeded, would liave arrested Burgoyne at the 
beginning of his campaign and saved the Continental army 
from great disasters. 

The legislature of his State did not fail to thank him 
for the important services he had rendered the country. 
Burgoyne was now in full march from Canada, by way of 
Lake Champlain and the Hudson River, to join Clinton at 
Albany and separate the Eastern from the Middle and 
Southern States, thus ending the war by the easy subjuga- 
tion of their divided strength. Ticonderoga had fallen; 
the triumphant English and Hessian horde had crossed the 
Hudson, and neither Schuyler nor Gates was able to arrest 
the progress of Burgoyne. There was no more perilous 
period during the whole war. 

Vermont, although of the Union, was not then in the 
Union. Her gallant sons, under Allen and Warner and 
others, were among the most efficient opponents of the 
Crown, and this campaign of Burgoyne's was an invasion 
of their homes. New Hampshire was herself a frontier 
State from the beginning, and the authorities of Vermont 
cried aloud to their New Hampshire brethren, being the 
first to feel what, if not met at the threshold, would 
become the common distress. 

John Langdon was president of the New Hampshire 
provincial assembly, and delivered to them what I consider 
the greatest speech in our history, except Webster's reply 
to Hayne: 

I have three thousand dollars in cash. I will sell niy plate for 
three thousand more. I have seventy hogsheads of Tobago rum, 
which I will turn into money. We will raise two regiments of men. 
Our friend Spark will take command of them and we will drive 
back P)U;goyne. 



108 Address of Mr. Blair on the 

In one month the men were raised; they had crossed the 
mountains; Vermont and Massachusetts had contributed 
all who could be assembled, and Stark, in command of 
the whole of them, refusing to act under the orders 
of Congress, but, operating under authority of the State 
of New Hampshire, had fought the battle of Bennington, 
destroyed more than one thousand of Burgoyne's best 
troops, one-sixth of his entire army, and so weakened and 
demoralized him and aroused the whole country that 
further progress was impossible. This ended Stark's 
contemplated service, but his country recognized at once 
that her true genius had appeared on the scene, and Con- 
gress desired him to join the main army under Gates. 

But Stark did not consent, believing that if he did so 
Burgoyne would be allowed to escape to Canada. Urged 
by Langdon and his associates, he remained in the field 
under the commission of his State, rallied an army which 
seized the fords of the Hudson just as Burgoyne arrived 
on the western bank of the river on his stealthy retreat 
to Canada, which he had begun without the knowledge of 
the unwary Gates. Finding Stark interposed between his 
disheartened army and Canada, and more than twice his 
own numbers under Gates in front, the discomfited com- 
mander of His Majesty's forces fought bravely but hopelessly 
and surrendered at Saratoga. 

Then followed the French alliance and several years of 
indecisive war, which the united strength of both nations 
was not able to bring to a successful result until the Tri- 
color and the Stars and Stripes finally triumphed together 
at Yorktown in 1781. 



Acceptance of the Statue of John Stark. 109 

For his transcendent services at Bennington Congress 
was not slow to thank the true hero of that occasion and of 
the whole campaign of 1777, and to redress the injustice 
done him after the battle of Trenton, b)' forwarding to him 
a general's commission in the Continental army. 

On at least three vital occasions during the Revolution- 
ary war the services of Gen. John Stark were most con- 
spicuously important. 

Whoever studies the campaigns by which our independ- 
ence was achieved will thank God for John Stark at 
Bunker Hill, at Trenton, at Bennington, and the whole 
campaign against Burgoyne. So far as the agency of one 
man can be essential in working out the purposes of Provi- 
dence, it must be conceded that in all these great affairs he 
was plainly that one man. 

Let anyone answer hopefully who can the question. What 
would have been the fate of America if John St.\rk had 
not fought at Bitnker Hill, at Trenton, and at Bennington? 
Doubtless America would at some time have been free, but 
through what years of additional blood and suffering we 
might have attained to the promised land is beyond mor- 
tal ken. 

After the campaign of 1777, General Stark served prin- 
cipally in the department of the north, in charge of that 
portion of the Union which he had done so much to free 
from the Briton, the Canadian, and the Indian. I can 
not take more of the time of the House to enlarge upon 
his illustrious career. After the war he lived on his farm, 
now within the corporate limits of Manchester, the city 
where I have the honor to reside, a city which reveres his 
memory and is now engaged in a great effort, to which she 



110 Address of Mr. Blair on the 

would gladly give national proportions, to erect a suitable 
monument over his grave. 

This monument will rise on a conspicuous spot in that 
happy valley where the eyes of hundreds of thousands of 
our countrymen and of all countrymen of civilized lands, 
as they hurry through that great avenue of travelers, now 
annually behold the Stars and Stripes waving in the 
heavens to mark the last resting place of him who has had 
no superior in exalted patriotism or in native genius for 
war among all the great men born upon our soil. 

It has been deemed fitting by New Hampshire, who 
has not forgotten the importance of his perpetual presence 
in the grounds of her own capital, that his statue should 
be placed among those of the immortals in yonder Hall. 
I close with the sentiment which Gen. John Stark gave 
to the committee which sought his presence at the celebra- 
tion of the battle of Bennington not long before his death: 

Stand by the flag of your country; live free or diel 

Mr. Speaker, in accordance with the will of the State 
of New Hampshire, expressed through Governor John B. 
Smith, her distinguished executive, the statue of John 
Stark is now presented to the country. I have the honor 
to move the adoption of the resolutions. 

MESSAGE FROM THE SENATE. 

A message from the Senate, by Mr. PlatT, one of its 
clerks, announced that the Senate had passed the following 
resolutions; in which the concurrence of the House was 
requested : 

Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring). 
That the thanks of Congress be given to the people of New Hamp- 
shire for the statue of John Stark., illustrious for mihtary services, 



Acceptance of the Statue of John Stark. 1 1 1 

being especially distinguished at Bunker Hill and as the \ictorious 
commander at Bennington. 

Resolved, That the statue be accepted and placed in the National 
Statuary Hall, and that a copy of these resolutions, signed by the 
presiding officers of the Senate and House of Representatives, 
be forwarded to his excellency the governor of the State of New 
Hampshire. 

The Speaker. If there be no objection, these Senate 
resolutions will be substituted for those offered by the gen- 
tleman from New Hampshire [Mr. Baker], and action will 
be taken upon them instead of upon the House resolutions. 

There was no objection, and it was so ordered. 

The Senate resolutions were unanimously concurred in. 



ACCEPTANCE OF THE STATUE OF DANIEL WEBSTliR. 



PROCEEDINGS IN THE SENATE. 



DECEMBER 3, 1894. 

Mr. Ch.wdler submitted the following resolution; which 
was considered by unanimous consent, and agreed to: 

Resolved, That the e.xercises in the Senate in connection with the 
reception from the State of New Hampshire, for the National Gallery 
in the Capitol, of the statues of John Stark and Daniel Webster 
be made a s|)ecial order for Thursday, the 2otli day of December. 

DECEMBER 20. 1894. 

Mr. Hoar. Mr. President, I send to the vSecretary's desk 
concurrent resolutions, for which I ask present considera- 
tion 

The Presiding Officer. The concurrent re.solutions 
w-il! be read. 

The Secretary read the concurrent resolutions, as follows: 

Resolved by the Senate {the House of Representatives coiiciirrini:;), 
That the thanks of Congress be presented to the State of New 
Hampshire for the statue of Daniel Webster, a citizen of that 
State, illustrious for historic renown and for distinguished civic 
service. 

Resolved, That the statue be accepted and placed in the National 
Statuary Hall in the Capitol, and that a copy of these resolutions, 
duly authenticated, be transmitted to his excellency the governor of 
New Hampshire. 

The Senate, by unanimous consent, proceeded to con- 
sider the concurrent resolutions. 

8 s— w 113 



Address of Mr. Cliandlcr on the 



ADDRESS OF Mr. Chandler, 

Mr. President: New Hampshire gives to the National 
Gallery in this Capitol the statue of her most distinguished 
son, who was also the greatest lawyer, orator, and states- 
man of America. 

Thomas Webster, a Puritan of the English race, settled 
at Hampton, on the New Hampshire coast, about the year 
1636, sixteen years after the landing at Plymouth and six 
years after the arrival of Governor Winthrop at Salem. 

Descended, as is believed, from Thomas Webster was 
Ebenezer Webster, who was born in Kingston, near Hamp- 
ton, April 22, 1739, and in 1763 moved as a pioneer farmer 
to the township first called Bakerstown, next Stevenstown, 
and finally Salisbury. His second wife was Abigail East- 
man, of W^elsh descent, a resident of Salisbur}-. Ezekiel 
Webster was born March 11, 1780, and on January 18, 
1782, Daniel Webster was born in Salisbury-, in that 
part which is now Franklin. 

The Salisbury line started at the head of the Great Falls 
in the Pemigewasset "River, just above "the crotch" where 
the confluence of that stream with the Winnepesaukee 
forms the Merrimack, and extended down the latter river 
four miles to a point about fifteen miles above Penacook, 
now Concord, and from the Merrimack the lines extended 
west four miles apart for a distance of nine miles across 
the hills between the Merrimack and the Blackwater and 
up the eastern slope of Kearsarge Mountain. The Webster 
birthplace was a home of dark and gloomy forests, bleak 



Acceptance of tlic Statue of Daniel Webster. 115 

and barren hillsides, fields hard to cnltivate durin^^ the 
short snminers, and covered deep with snow during the 
long and tedious winters. The father's first house was a 
log cabin, and, as the son has told us in a pathetic and 
memorable description, "when the smoke first rose from 
its rude chimney and curled over the frozen hills there was 
no similar evidence of a white man's habitation between it 
and the settlements on the rivers in Canada." 

Amid these surroundings Daniel WebsteR was born 
and came to manhood. It is impossible to correcth- judge 
of their effect upon his character without a careful contem- 
plation also of the traits and opinions of his father. 

Ebenezer Webster when only eighteen years of age 
served as one of the Rodgers rangers in the French and 
Indian war. In the campaign of 1758 he went out as a 
private in Timothy Ladd's company. Against Crown 
Point in 1760 he served as a sergeant in Capt. Philip John- 
son's company in Goff's regiment. He evidently became, 
after his arrival and his growth to man's estate, in the lit- 
tle frontier settlement of Salisbury, its leading citizen, and 
as the Revolution approached he was looked to by reason 
of his previous experience as a ranger to be the foremost 
soldier of Salisbury's company to march to Boston after 
the battle of Lexington. Mr. Bancroft says that b}- the 
23d of .\pril, 1775, two thousand men had arri\ed from 
the interior of New Hampshire, sent "not to return before 
the work was done." 

May I, 1775, Salisbury voted "to raise fifteen pounds 
la .v-ful money in order to purchase ammunition for a town 
stock to be kept in Salisbury;" "also to choose a committee 
of inspection in said town," and to make Capt. Ebenezer 



ll(j A(Mress of Mr. Chandler on the 

Webster its chairman. On April 12, 1776, New Hamp- 
shire's committee of safety asked all the male citizens to 
sign a declaration as follows: "That we will, to the 
utmost of our power and at the risque of our li\es and for- 
tunes, with arms, oppose the hostile proceedings of the 
British fleets and armies against the United American 
Colonies." Ebenezer Webster signed this engagement, 
and as first selectman certified to the committee the 
names of eighty-three who had signed it — every male 
adult in the town except two, who withheld their sig- 
natures for reasons not unfriendly to the cause of the colo- 
nies. 

Ebenezer Webster did not render continuous military 
service during the Revolution, but whenever the town fur- 
nished soldiers for the Continental army he was placed in 
charge of the work either alone or with Capt. Matthew 
Pettengill, and Captain Webster on various calls marched 
to the armed conflicts of the Revolutionary struggle. In 
1776 he performed six months' service in the army, enlist- 
ing a company, marching to New York, and participating 
in the battle of White Plains. 

At the battle of Bennington, August 16, 1777, he was 
captain of a company composed of sixty-six men, forty-two 
of whom were from Salisbury, serving under General 
Stark. He was ordered to find other companies of two 
linndred men who were out on a scout, to take charge 
of the whole, and to fall upon the enemy in the rear when 
the action should commence at the front. When the 
charge was made. Captain Webster was the first to leap 
the defenses, but his command was driven back. Later 
he was placed by Stark on the left wing of the army, and 



Acceptance of the Statue of Daniel Webster. 117 

fought to the successful finish with bravery and with credit 
to himself and his command. 

In August, 1778, Captain Webster, in obedience to a 
request from the committee of safety, raised a company, 
which he commanded; it was the third in Colonel Nichols's 
regiment of Whipple's brigade, serving in the Rhode Island 
campaign. In 1780 he was captain of the fourth company 
in Colonel Nichols's regiment, raised for the defense of 
West Point. One of Captain Webster's soldiers, Stephen 
Bohannon, who was with him at the time of General 
Washington's discovery of the treason of Arnold, in Sep- 
tember, 1780, related the following incident to Hon. 
George W. Nesmith: 

Webster was called to General Washington's tent and 
commanded to guard it during that night, and the General 
remarked: "Captain Webster, I believe I can trust you." 

Bohannon said that Washington did not sleep at all that 
night, but spent the time either in writing or walking in 
his tent. 

In 1782 Captain Webster performed a six-months serv- 
ice in the northern part of New Hampshire. Most of the 
soldiers in his company resided in that part of the State. 
This was known as the "Ranger service," and was the 
last in which he was engaged. 

"As an officer he was beloved by his soldiers, and set 
the good example of always being in front of his men and 
in the thickest of the battle. He was born to command; 
of cool, steady nerve, and possessing sound judgment; in 
stature six feet tall, erect, stately, and of splendid phy- 
sique, with a voice of great compass and clearness, making 
himself heard all along the line and in the thickest of the 



118 Address of Mr. Chandler on the 

battle; eyes black and piercing; a countenance open, frank, 
and generous, and a complexion which ' could not be soiled 
by powder. ' ' ' 

After the close of the war Ebenezer Webster continued 
to be engaged by his fellow-citizens in public service. He 
was placed upon all the important town counuittees, and 
in 1788 was chosen, with Captain Pettengill, as a delegate 
to the convention at Concord for forming a State constitu- 
tion. In 1794 the town voted to choose a committee of 
seven to engage "minutemen," and made as chairman 
' ' Col . Ebenezer Webster. ' ' 

He was chosen moderator at the second town meeting 
in 1769, and fifteen times thereafter, the last election being 
in 1803. In 1769 he was also chosen selectman, and eight 
times subsequently. He was representative in the legis- 
lature from Salisbury in 1780, 1781, and 1790. He also 
was State senator for five terms from 1785 to 1789, became 
colonel in the militia in 1784, and finally, about 1791, a 
county judge for the county of Hillsborough. He was a 
Presidential elector when Washington was first chosen. 

In 1788 Salisbury sent Mr. Webster as delegate to the 
convention which met in February at Exeter ' ' for the pur- 
pose of considering the proposed Constitution," and a town 
committee was "chosen to take the matter up and instruct 
Colonel Webster how to act upon their decision." ]\Iost 
of the northern towns were against the Constitution. 
Public feeling was so strong against it at Exeter that the 
friends of the measure found that they must secure delay, 
and the convention adjourned to meet at Concord in June, 
1788. Mr. Webster came home, discussed the subject with 
his constituents, and obtained from them leave to do as he 



Acceptance of the Statue of Daiiiet U'elister. 119 

thought proper. When tlie vote was about to be taken he 
arose and said: 

Mr. President, I have listened to the arguments for and against the 
Constitution, and I am convinced that such a government as that 
Constitution will establish, if adopted — a government acting directly 
on the people of the States — is necessary for the common defense 
and general welfare. It is the only government which will enable us 
to pay off the national debt — the debt which we owe for the Revolu- 
tion, and which we are bound in honor to fully antl fairly discharge. 
Besides, I have followed the lead of Washington through seven 
years of war, and I have never been misled. His name is sub- 
scribed to this Constitution; he will not mislead us now; I shall 
vote for Its adoption. 

The junior Senator from Massachusetts [Mr. Lodge], 
in his attractive, discriminating, and just biography of 
Daniel Webster, in the American Statesman series, 
vividlv describes Ebenezer Webster: 

There were splendid sources of strength in this man, the outcome 
of such a race, from which his children could draw. He had an 
imposing bodily presence and appearance. He had courage, en- 
ergy, and tenacity all in high degree. He was businesslike, a man 
of few words, determined, and efficient. He had a great capacity 
for affection and self-sacrifice, noble aspirations, a vigorous mind, 
and above all a strong, pure character, which invited trust. Force 
of will, force of mind, force of character — these were the three pre- 
dominant qualities in Ebenezer Webster. His life forms the neces- 
sary introduction to that of his celebrated son, and it is well worth 
study, because we can learn from it how much that son got from a 
father so finely endowed, and how far he profited by such a rich in- 
heritance. 

Such was the father of Daniel Webster. The mother 
must not be forgotten by those Americans who are grateful 
for the patriotic achievements of the son. Little is recorded 
of Abigail Eastman Webster in authentic narrative, but 



120 Address of Mr. Chandler on the 

the mental traits of her sons Ezekiel and Daniel must have 
been largely inherited from her or were due to her early 
training, and surely their development was made possible 
only by the sufferings and sacrifices through severe toil and 
in grinding poverty which she welcomed and endured 
equalh' with her husband, if not even more full)' than he 
did, in order to give opportunity for the growth and frui- 
tion of those marvelous talents which not too fondly nor 
mistakenly they believed they saw in the sons they loved 
with such intense devotion. 

Mr. Edward Everett says: "Like the mothers of so 
many men of eminence, she was a woman of more than 
ordinary intellect, and possessed a force of character which 
was felt throughout the humble circle in which she moved. 
She was proud of her sons, and ambitious that they should 
excel. Her anticipations went beyond the narrow sphere 
in which their lot seemed to be cast, and the distinction 
attained by both, and especially by the younger, may well 
be traced in part to her early promptings and judicious 
guidance." 

Sustained and urged forward by such parents, Daniel 
Webster studied in the district school at Salisbur>- under 
Masters Thomas Chase and James Tappan, and in 1796, 
beginning in May, at the Phillips Exeter Academy, under 
Principal Benjamin Abbott and Ushers Nicholas Emery 
and Joseph Stevens Buckminster for nine months, and 
next, from February to August, 1797, under the charge of 
Rev. Samuel Wood, at Boscawen. While taking him to 
Mr. Wood his father confided to him his intention to send 
him to college ; and the son says in his autobiography : "I 
remember the ver}- hill which we were ascending, through 



Acceptance of the Statue of Daniel Webster. Vl\ 

deep snow, in a New England sleigh, when my father made 
known his purpose to me. I could not speak. How could 
he, I thought, with so large a family and in such narrow 
circumstances, think of incurring so great an expense for 
me? A warm glow ran all over me, and I laid my head on 
my father's shoulder and wept." 

Completing his studies with Mr. Wood, he entered Dart- 
mouth College in August, 1797. Reflecting, while enjoy- 
ing his advantages, that he alone was profiting by the self- 
denial of his family, while his brother Ezekiel, whose 
talents he admired, was deprived of the opportunity of 
higher education, he determined that the brother also 
should come to the college, and he argued the case to his 
father. He records the reph: "He said at once he lived 
but for his children; that he had but little, and on that 
little he put no value, except so far as it might be useful 
to them; that to carry us both through college would take 
all he was worth; that for himself he was willing to run 
the risk, but that this was a serious matter to our mother 
and two unmarried sisters; that we must settle the matter 
with them, and if their consent was obtained he would 
trust to Providence and get along as well as he could." 
The father laid the case before the mother. "The farm is 
already mortgaged, and if we send Ezekiel to college it 
will take all we have; but the boys think they can take 
care of us," he said. It did not take the strong-hearted, 
sagacious woman long to decide tiie matter. "We can 
trust the boys. I have lived long in the world, and have 
been happy in my children. If Daniel and Ezekiel will 
promise to take care of me in my old age, I will consent 
to the sale of all our property at once, that they may enjoy 



122 Address of Mr. Chandler on the 

with us the benefit of what remains after the debts are 
paid." 

As a result of this self-sacrificing decision Ezekiel fitted 
for college and entered Dartmouth in March, 1801. Each 
boy struggled earnestly to keep along and finish his four- 
years' course and get his degree. Daniel paid his board 
for a year "by superintending a little weekly paper (called 
the Dartmouth Gazette) and making selections for it from 
books of literature and from the contemporary publica- 
tions," and he was graduated in 1801, shortly after Eze- 
kiel entered. Ezekiel left college in 1803 and went to 
Boston and taught a private school for a year, but re- 
turned and was graduated in 1804, having spent but three 
years in college. 

Immediately after graduating, in August, 1801, Mr. 
Webster began the study of the law in the office, in Salis- 
bury, of Thomas W. Thompson, a lawyer of note, who 
later became a member of the national House of Repre- 
sentatives, and also a Senator from June, 18 14, to March, 
1817. The need of money soon compelled the young law 
student to go to an academy at Fryeburg, Me., to teach at 
a salary of one dollar per day, where he also did copying 
as assistant to the register of deeds at that place. In Sep- 
tember, 1802, he returned to Salisbury and resumed his 
studies under Mr. Thompson, and in July, 1804, went to 
Boston and studied for six months with Hon. Christopher 
Gore, an eminent citizen of high culture and great ability, 
who held various public offices — was governor of Massa- 
chusetts, and was also United States Senator from May 5, 
1813, to June, 18 16, when he resigned. 

While in Boston Mr. Webster w^s asked to return home 



Acceptance of the Statue of Daniel Webster. 123 

to accept the office of clerk of the court of common pleas 
for the county of Hillsborough, which had been offered to 
him by the judges out of regard for his father, who was 
one of what are called "side judges" — men of character 
and ability appointed for certain service for the county not 
requiring knowledge of the law. By advice of Mr. Gore 
he declined this office on the ground that it would sacrifice 
his professional prospects, but with many doubts of his own 
and on the part of his father. Returning to Boston, in 
March, 1805, he was admitted to practice in the court of 
common pleas for Suffolk County. Going back to New 
Hampshire, he opened an office in Boscawen, the next town 
south of Salisbur\-, so as to be near his father, who, how- 
ever, died in April, 1806, and in September, 1807, Mr. 
Webster relinquished his office in Boscawen to his brother 
Ezekiel and removed to Portsmouth, in accordance with 
his original intention. He remained in practice there nine 
years, coming in contact and enjoying an intimate acquaint- 
ance with those great New Hampshire lawyers, Jeremiah 
Smith. George Sullivan, William Plummer, Jeremiah 
Mason, and Ichabod Bartlett. 

During his residence in Portsmouth he was drawn into 
politics. It had been the custom for the most noted schol- 
ars at Dartmouth College to deliver Fourth of July ad- 
dresses. Mr. Webster had pronounced such an oration 
July 4, 1800, at Hanover, while a member of the junior 
class, which was printed. Mr. Lodge sa\s: 

The boy Webster preached love of country, the grandeur of 
American nationality, fidelity to the Constitution as the bulwark 
of nationality, and the necessity and the nobility of the Union of the 
States; and that was the message which the man Webster delivered 



124 Address of Mr. Chandler on the 

to his fellow-men. The enduring work which Mr. Webster did in 
the world and his meaning and influence in American history are 
all summed up in the principles enunciated in that boyish speech at 
Hanover. 

Mr. Lodge, in thus tracing to its source the origin of 
Mr. Webster's intense nationality and his fidelity to the 
Constitution as its bulwark, might well have gone back 
still further to that speech of Ebenezer Webster in the 
convention at Exeter, where he said that the new Govern- 
ment would be one "acting directly on the people of the 
States." The father thus spoke in June, 1788. In Feb- 
ruary, 1833, the son, in his reply to Mr. Calhoun, charac- 
terized the Government as one "creating direct relations 
between itself and individuals." 

The following entry appears in the history of Salisbury: 
"Eighteen hundred and five. Daniel Webster delivered 
the Fourth of July oration to the Federalists at the South 
Road, and Thomas Hale Pettengill to the Democrats, then 
called Republicans, at the Centre Road." Mr. WEBSTER 
also delivered a Fourth of July oration while he was at 
Fryeburg, which has been printed. In 1806 he made a 
Fourth of July oration to the Federalists at Con.cord. In 
1808 he wrote a pamphlet against the embargo. In 1812 
he delivered a Fourth of July address before the Washing- 
ton Benevolent Society at Portsmouth, which was an argu- 
ment against the war; but he insisted upon the necessity of 
a better navy. This address was followed by the election 
of Mr. Webster as a delegate to a mass convention held in 
August, 181 2, in Rockingham County, where he drew the 
report of a committee, adopted by the convention, known 
as the "Rockingham Memorial." 



Acceptance of the Statue of Daniel Webster. 125 

As the result of this political work, Mr. Webster was 
elected to Congress in 1812, and took his seat May 24, 1813, 
and he was once reelected, closing his New Hampshire 
period of service on March 4, 1817. 

On first entering Congress he was placed upon the Com- 
mittee on Foreign Relations, of which Mr. Calhoun was 
chairman. He first made a speech on resolutions, intro- 
duced by himself on June 10, 1813, attacking the Admin- 
istration for an alleged concealment of the information 
that France had repealed the Berlin and Milan decrees 
until after the declaration of war against England; and the 
resolutions were passed. At the next session of Congress 
the dominant party dropped him from the Committee on 
Foreign Relations. He spoke on several occasions, his 
principal speech being against a bill to encourage enlist- 
ments, which was an attack upon the Administration in 
connection with its conduct of the war, and he denounced 
the embargo, which was shortly thereafter repealed. 

The controversy in reference to a national bank had 
begun, and Mr. Webster opposed the plan, which favored 
a large capital and a non-specie-paying bank under obliga- 
tion to make heavy loans to the Government, and the bill 
was defeated by the casting vote of the Speaker. The 
vote was reconsidered, the bill freed from its objectionable 
features, and passed by a large majority; but it was vetoed 
by the President. 

In the Fourteenth Congress, beginning in December, 
1815, and ending April 30, 1816, Mr. Webster partici- 
pated in the debates upon the bank bill and again opposed 
irredeemable paper. He offered resolutions and spoke in 
favor of requiring all Government dues to be paid in coin 



126 Address of Mr. Chandler on the 

or its equivalent. His resolutions were adopted. During 
this session Mr. Webster was challenged to fight a duel, 
by John Randolph, which challenge he declined in lan- 
guage which Mr. Lodge says is a "model of dignity and 
veiled contempt." "He refused to admit Randolph's 
right to an explanation, alluded to that gentleman's lack of 
courtesy in the House, denied his right to call him out, 
and wound up by saying that he did not feel bound to 
risk his life at anyone's bidding, but should always be pre- 
pared to repel in a suitable manner the aggression of any 
man who might presume on his refusal." 

The period of nine years which have been mentioned, 
covering his law practice at Portsmouth and his four years 
in the House of Representatives, ended Mr. Webster's 
citizenship in New Hampshire. He had acquired a high 
reputation at the bar, had been called to try cases in 
Boston, and had realized the need of a larger field of em- 
ployment and of more ample remuneration. He had also 
become known nationally, and seemed evidently destined to 
a great career both as a lawyer and a public man. There- 
fore, in August, 1816, he removed to Boston. Thereafter 
his name and fame belonged no more to New Hampshire 
alone, but especially to IMassachusetts, and to the whole 
country as well. 

It is not the purpose of these introductory remarks to 
follow in detail Mr. Webster's career after he ceased to be 
a citizen of New Hampshire. His official life was mainly 
passed in the national House of Representatives, in the 
United States Senate, and in the Cabinet as Secretary of 
State. 

He was elected from Massachusetts to the House of 



Acceptance of the Statue of Daniel Webster. 127 

Representatives in 1822, taking his seat in December, 1823, 
and was twice reelected. He was a member of the Massa- 
chusetts constitutional convention in 1830. He became 
United States Senator March 4, 1827, and served till 1841, 
when he resigned to become Secretary of State in President 
Harrison's Cabinet. He continued in President Tyler's 
Cabinet, but finally resigned in ;\Iay, 1843, and resumed 
the practice of the law in Boston. 

On March 4, 1845, he again entered the Senate, succeed- 
ing Rufus Choate, and he once more resigned July 22, 1850, 
to enter President Fillmore's Cabinet as Secretary of State, 
where he remained until his death at Marshfield, Mass., on 
October 24, 1852. 

In politics he was first a Federalist, afterwards a member 
of the Whig party, and several times a candidate in the 
conventions of that party for the nomination for President. 

Mr. Webster's national fame as a lawyer began with the 
Dartmouth College case, argued in the New Hampshire 
court on May 18, 1817, and in the United States Supreme 
Court on March 10, 1818, which established the doctrine 
that grants of privileges by States to corporations give 
vested rights not subject to repeal at the will of the 
legislature. 

In the case of Gibbons and Ogden, at the February term, 
1S24, he successfully contended that a grant by a State of 
an exclusive right of navigation in the waters of the vState 
was void, because an encroachment upon the right of the 
Congress to regulate commerce; and in the case of Ogden 
and Sanders, at the January term, 1827, he argued, with 
only partial success, that all State insolvent laws were 
unconstitutional. 



128 Address of Mr. Chandler on the 

In the Charles River bridge case, in 1836, he vainly 
sought to sustain the exclusive right of the bridge com- 
pany against an act of the legislature authorizing the 
erection of Warren bridge. 

In the Girard will case, in February, 1844, he unsuccess- 
fully contended that Christianity was so far the paramount 
law of the land that the exclusion, in founding a college, 
of all ministers of whatever sect from holding office and 
from admission within its walls was void. 

In the Rhode Island case of Luther and Borden, on Jan- 
uary 27, 1848, he maintained the validity of the Govern- 
ment under the old charter as against a new constitution 
set up by a voluntary convention of the people. 

His published address to the j ury for the prosecution on 
the trial, in August, 1830, of John F. Knapp for the mur- 
der, on April 7, 1830, of Capt. Joseph White, of Salem, has 
been universally read. j\Ir. Everett says that "the record 
of the causes c^lebres of no country or age will furnish 
either a more thrilling narrative or a forensic effort of 
greaLer ability." 

Mr. Webster' .s renown as an orator arises largely from 
his Plymouth oration of December 22, 1820, his Bunker 
Hill Monument orations of June 17, 1825, and June 17, 
1843, ^"<i ^^ Adams and Jefferson oration of August 2, 
1826; but his extraordinary powers were also exhibited in 
his other occasional addresses, in his legal arguments, and 
in his speeches in the Senate, especially in his second 
speech in reply to Mr. Hayne. 

Mr. Webster's reputation as a statesman is based upon 
a .series of speeches in the Senate and at political meetings 
and upon his public acts as Secretar}- of State. The most 



Acceptance of t lie Statue of Daniel Webster. 129 

notable speeches were those made in the Senate while 
opposing nullification and maintaining that the Consti- 
tution is not a compact between the vStates from which 
any vState may withdraw at its pleasure, but a national 
charter proceeding from the people themselves, and only 
to be terminated and destroyed by revolution. His re- 
marks on this topic and in defense of Massachusetts and 
New England from the attacks of Mr. Hayne, of South 
Carolina, are to be found in the three speeches of Jan- 
uary 20, January 26, and January 27, 1830, on P'oote's reso- 
lution. 

During his careei- Mr. Webster treated in speeches, 
with great distinctness, amplitude, and force, the following 
subjects: The tariff, internal improvements, the national 
bank, the currency, the Monroe doctrine, the Texas ques- 
tion and the Mexican war, and slavery in all its relations, 
ending with his speeches of the 7th of March, the 17th of 
June, and the 17th of July, 1850, in favor of the compro- 
mise measures of that year. 

As Secretary of State his principal act was the negotia- 
tion with Lord Ashburton of the Treaty of Washington, on 
August 9, 1842, which settled the controversy with Great 
Britain over the northeastern boundary, provided for the 
extradition of fugitives from justice, and promoted the 
suppression of the slave trade by a practical arrangement 
for the mutual right of search of the vessels of the two 
countries. This treaty was defended later in the Senate by 
Mr. Webster in speeches of April 6 "and 7, 1846. The 
correspondence also disposed of the vexed question of the 
impressment of seamen and of the destruction of the Ca7-o- 
line and the arrest of McLeod in 1837, and of the maritime 
9 s — w 



130 Address of Mr. Chandler on the 

rights connected with the slave mutineers of the ship 
Creole., in 1842. 

Other correspondence and • arrangements adjusted our 
controversies with Mexico about certain American citizens 
captured at Santa Fe and concerning the independence of 
Texas, and our dififerences with Spain growing out of the 
seizure of the schooner -'i;«z>/'r?fl' and her slaves, and secured 
the independence of the Sandwich Islands. The mission 
to China and the treaty with that power, accomplished by 
the learned and versatile Caleb Cushing, were noted 
achievements. The Hulsemann correspondence carried on 
with the Austrian minister in vindication of the welcome 
given by our people to Louis Kossuth, the eloquent Hun- 
garian patriot and refugee, attracted world-wide attention 
and received universal commendation in America. 

These achievements constitute the substantial basis of 
Mr. Webster's greatness and entitle his native State of 
New Hampshire to place his likeness in marble as one of 
her two memorial statues in the National Gallery in this 
Capitol. 

If it may not be claimed that no one has surpassed Mr. 
Webster as a lawyer, there can be no reasonable doubt 
that no one has excelled him as an orator or as a states- 
man; and surely the combination as a whole, in his mind 
and person, of the qualities tending to superiority in each 
of the three spheres of action — as a lawyer, as an orator, 
and as a statesman — marks him as the greatest civilian 
of the first hundred years of our national existence under 
our matchless Constitution. 

It is not, however, the part of wisdom, nor required by 
the demands of the hour — it would be, indeed, discouraging 



Acceptance of the Statue of Daiiict JVebster. 131 

rather than helpful to the rising generation of to-day — 
to present the character of Mr. Webster as wholly per- 
fect. The great man was not without personal faults, nor 
did his public acts escape severe criticism. At this dis- 
tance of time and on this occasion any historic truth may 
be plainly disclosed and considered, and any disapproval 
may be expressed which may be deemed appropriate by 
those who take part in these exercises. 

In his early days in Congress Mr. Webster strongly 
opposed a protective tariff, when, under the lead of Mr. 
Calhoun, the South sought by duties on imports to develop 
the home industries of cotton and other manufactures, 
while New England was agricultural and commercial 
merely, and largely engaged in the carrying trade upon 
the ocean. 

Afterwards, when New England had bowed to the 71a- 
tional policy and had invested her means in manufacturing 
enterprises, upon which her property and wealth became 
absolutely dependent, Mr. Webster changed his position, 
and argued with great earnestness and force in favor of 
protection according to the American system of Henry 
Clay. Here was no moral question — it was economic 
purely; one of expediency, and one whether there should 
be a broad or narrow construction of the Constitution. 
To-day there is no serious controversy whether it was wise 
and constitutional to enact the second law of the First 
Congress, passed on July 4, 1789, for laying duties on im- 
ports, declared to be "for the encouragement and protec- 
tion of manufactures." 

When the .slavery question first became dominant in 
national politics Mr. Webster was one o^ its leading 
opponents and committed himself most positively in favor 



132 Address of Mr. Chandler on the 

of the Wilmot proviso, demanding a prohibition by direct 
and affirmative national law against the existence of slav- 
ery in any of the Territories of the Union. Yet in his 7th 
of March speech he made a radical change, abandoned the 
Wilmot proviso, and again, as a follower of Mr. Clay, sup- 
ported the compromise measures of 1850. 

This transition of Mr. WebsteR occasioned widespread 
criticism. Great bitterness toward him in public discussion 
caused him infinite distress during the remaining two 
years of his life; and there is still contention as to the 
motives of his change and as to the wisdom and patriotism 
of his course. 

In an address in the Senate on February 18, 1889, upon 
the reception from the State of Michigan of the statue of 
Lewis Cass, also a native of New Hampshire, the present 
speaker sought for the reasons which led that Northern 
statesman to be willing to make so many concessions to 
the South and to slaver>-. The controlling motive, it may 
fairly be claimed, was love of the Union of these States 
and fears of its dissolution. Now that the Union, after 
more than one hundred years of national life under the 
Constitution, has been cemented by the blood of hundreds 
of thousands of patriotic citizen soldier^' in the greatest 
war of modern times, these fears of the men of 1S50 may 
seem to have been fanciful and needless. But they were 
real to them. The Union meant, as they believed, every- 
thing that was dear to them and to their children, and they 
were willing to yield and to suffer much rather than to 
risk the doubtful issue of fratricidal warfare for its main- 
tenance. 

That such a motive influenced Mr. WEBSTER there can 
be no doubt. Whether it was the sole motive nia\' be 



Acceptance of the Statue of Daniel JVcbster. 133 

questioned. Mr. Lodge, speaking of the 7th of ]\Iarch 
speech, says: 

It is impossible to determine, with perfect accuracy, any man's 
motives in what he says or does. They are so complex; they are 
so often unde5ned, even in the mind of the man himself that no 
one can pretend to make an absolutely correct analysis. 

But whether the just and impartial historian will con- 
clude that Mr. Webster acted from mixed motives, his 
eulogists can unflinchingly assert that he was sincere in his 
devotion to the Union. If he had lived until 1861, when 
the South and slavery began the war, he would have 
spoken uncompromisingly for the maintenance of the 
Union by force of arms, and would have thrown all his 
sur\-iving energies and eloquence into the contest for the 
establishment of liberty to all men, without distinction of 
color, as well as the perpetuation of the Union. 

So that it is universally conceded that ^Ir. Webster's 
intense nationality, which was inherited and was strength- 
ened by the labors of a lifetime in behalf of the American 
Union, entitles him to the lasting gratitude of his coun- 
trymen. 

In centuries to come, if the statues in the gallery escape 
the leveling hand of time, and future generations look upon 
the likeness of Webster and ask who he was and what he 
did, there shall come the undying eulogium: He was the 
great expounder and defender of the American Constitution. 
There is no militar}'- halo around his mighty head; no names 
of battles tell his fame; but he set forth and explained in 
living and burning words, as no other did or could, the 
immortal principles of American government, to defend 
which navies were built, armies were raised, and our great 
military chieftains fought, and bled, and gave up their lives. 



134 Address of Mr. Hoar on the 



Address of Mr. Hoar. 

Mr. President: There are few faithful portraits of 
human faces or faithful representations of human figures 
■which take their place by the side of the ideal creations of 
art, such as the Jove of Phidias, or the Apollo Belvedere, 
or the Venus of ]\Ielos, as examples of consummate beauty, 
or as expressing great moral qualities, or as types of nations 
or races. The face of George Washington, as represented 
by Stuart; the portrait of the young Augustus, where in 
the innocent face of unstained youth appears already the 
promise of an imperial character; some Greek and Roman 
busts; some representations of the youthful Napoleon; the 
head of Alexander Humboldt; the glorious forehead of 
Coleridge; the lips of Julius Caesar — are almost the only 
examples that I now recall. The figure and head of Dan- 
iel Webster I think we shall all agree to include in the 
same list. 

No man ever looked upon him and forgot him. His 
statel)- personal presence was the chief ornament of Boston 
and of Washington for a generation. When he walked, a 
stranger, through the streets of London, the draymen 
turned to gaze after him as he passed. Sidney Smith said 
of him, "He is a cathedral by himself;" and at another 
time, in homelier phrase, "A steam engine in breeches." 
Carlyle wrote to Emerson of him : 

The tanned complexion; that amorphous craglike face; the dull 
black eyes under the precipice of brows, like dull anthracite furnaces 
needing only to be blown ; the mastiff mouth, accurately closed ; I 
have not traced so much of silent Berserker rage that I remember 
of in any man. 



Acccplance of the Statue of Darnel Webster. 135 

The qualities of one of the greatest races of men which 
the world has seen in its greatest age and fullest develop- 
ment appeared in that majestic countenance and looked out 
in the gaze of those magnificent eyes. Command, courage, 
steadfastness, intellect, the repose of conscious strength, 
the capacity for tenderness or for burning passion, are all 
there. 

?vlr. \Vebstf:r's family, as is the case with very many of 
our eminent men, both living and dead, is of Scotch 
origin, though they dwelt for some time in England before 
they came to this country. That element, whether it 
came originalh- from Scotland itself, or indirectly from 
Ireland or England, has contributed some of the best citi- 
zens to New England, as to other parts of the country. 
The shrewd sense, the active intellect, the undaunted per- 
severance, the indomitable courage, the deep religious faith, 
the tenderness of family affection, the stanch patriotism for 
which the Scotch are so distinguished, have never suffered 
in the transplanting. Wherever anything good is to be 
had or to be done in this country, you are apt to find a 
Scotchman on the front seat trying to see if he can get it 
or do it. 

He touched New England at ever\- point. He was born 
a frontiersman. He tells us that when the smoke rose 
from his father's chimney there was no other similar evi- 
dence of a white man's habitation between it and the set- 
tlements on the rivers of Canada. He was bred a farmer. 
He knew well the history of the growth of every crop, the 
chemistry of the soil, the procession of the seasons. He 
knew, too, the simple and tender histor\- of the country 
fireside, and what the farmer was thinking of as he guided 



136 Address of Mr. Hoar on tlie 

his plow in the furrow in April or pitched the hay into the 
cart in midsummer. He was a fisherman in the mountain 
brooks and off the shore. He never forgot his origin, and 
he never was ashamed of it. Amid all the care and honor 
of his great place here, he was homesick for the company 
of his old neighbors and friends. Whether he stood in 
Washington the unchallenged prince and chief in the Sen- 
ate, or in foreign lands the kingliest man of his time in 
the presence of kings, his heart was in New England. 
When the spring came he heard far off the fife bird and the 
bobolink calling him to his New Hampshire mountains, or 
the plashing of the waves on the shore at Marshfield allur- 
ing him with a sweeter than siren's voice to his home by 
the summer sea. 

That Mr. Webster was the foremost American lawyer 
of his time, as well in the capacity to conduct jury trials 
as to argue questions of law before the full court, will not, 
I think, be seriously questioned by anybody who has read 
the reports of his legal arguments, or who has studied the 
history of his encounters before juries with antagonists like 
Choate or Pinkney. 

That he was foremost in that field which is almost pe- 
culiar to this country, where the orator utters the emotions 
of the people on great occasions of jo)- or sorrow or of 
national pride, the reader of the orations at Plymouth 
Rock and on the occasion of the foundation and comple- 
tion of the monument at Bunker Hill, the eulogies on 
Adams and Jefferson, on Story and Mason, will not ques- 
tion. There has been nothing of the kind to surpass them 
or to equal them since the funeral oration of Pericles. 

That he was a great diplomatist, able to conduct difficult 



Acceptance of the Statue a/ Daniel ll'ehster. 137 

negotiations to successful issue or to debate with the repre- 
sentatives of foreign Governments questions in dispute 
between nations, was abundantly shown in his brief terms 
of service in the Department of State. 

But the place of his achievement and renown was liere 
in the Senate Chamber. He was every inch a Senator — an 
American Senator. He needed no robe, no gilded chair, 
no pageant, no ceremony, no fasces, no herald making 
proclamation, to add to the dignity and to the authority 
with which his majestic presence, his consummate reason, 
his weighty eloquence, his lofty bearing invested the Sen- 
atorial character. His statue will stand in yonder chamber 
to be the first object of admiration to every visitor for cen- 
turies to come. But no work of art can do justice to the 
image of Webster which dwells in the hearts of his 
countrymen, and there shall abide when the walls of this 
Capitol shall have crumbled and the columns of the Me- 
morial Hall shall lie prostrate. That image will abide, 
one and inseparable, with the Union which he defended 
and the liberty which he loved. 

I do not think Mr. WEBSTER'S style is maintained at its 
highest excellence throughout his speeches as they come 
down to us in print. The thought is never tame or mean. 
You never doubt that a great mind is at work. But it 
often seems to be working sluggishly. The expression 
sometimes seems that of a man half asleep. Tliis may 
largely be due to the imperfection of reporting. His mas- 
terpieces of English are a few passages where his faculties 
seem to have been at a white heat. It is a common mistake 
to speak of ^Ir. Webster's as a nervous Saxon style. 
Except in a few sentences the characteristic of Mr. 



138 Address of Mr. Hoar on the 

Webster's style is a somewhat ponderous Latinity. 
There is more of Dr. Johnson than of Shakespeare in it. 
I think that for his purposes he was discreet in the choice 
of a vehicle for his thoughts, for which the resources of 
that part of our language which is of Saxon origin would 
often have been inadequate. 

The Saxon is tough, sinewy, racy. It is the fittest 
speech for common life. It is not without resources for 
the utterance of lofty emotion, as witness many passages 
in the Bible which we know by heart. But still there is 
something lacking in it. When the intellect would ex- 
press its profoundest meaning, or clothe itself in state or 
splendor, it seeks in the Latin what it does not find else 
where. If we were to endow the animals with the gift of 
speech, we should give the Saxon to the otter, to the fer- 
ret, to the bulldog, and even to the eagle. But I think we 
wotild need something else for the lion. Indeed, in Camp- 
bell's matchless couplet, even in describing the eagle's 
flight, with what a fine instinct he touches both chords. 
The Saxon will do for the swift flight, like a bullet to its 
mark. But the lofty, unapproachable solitude must be 
described in the majestic Latin: 

Lol the death-shot of foemen outspeeding lie rode, 
Companionless, bearing destruction abroad. 

The Saxon is a safe tongue for persons who are in danger 
of spoiling their English style by the use of little pomposi- 
ties. The attempt to give dignity to a mean or common 
thought, or to a thought which should be uttered simply, 
directly, and plainly, by clothing it in a certain aSected 
stateliness of phrase, is the ruin of many writers and of 



Acceptance of the Statue of Daniel Webster. 139 

more speakers. The Saxon is not likely to be used by a 
writer who has no thought at all. 

But on every occasion he knew how to convey his weighty 
meaning to any tribunal he had to address, whether court 
or Senate, alike to the understanding of the people and the 
apprehension of any antagonist. The grandeur of Mr. 
Webster's speech was always mingled with moral ten- 
derness and beauty. But his passion is a restrained and 
contained passion. He belonged to a race, he spake to 
auditors of a race, not in the habit of uncovering the 
springs of emotion to every observer. The few incidents 
where he gave way and seemed to have lost command of 
himself in deep personal feeling, as in his Dartmouth Col- 
lege argument, are handed down to us by tradition only. 
He did not prepare them beforehand, and he has left no 
record of them himself There is in all Mr. Webster's 
speeches the appearance of reserved power, of avoidance of 
extremes, which adds so much to their impressiveness. 
Half his strength he put not forth. 

It was said of him by a great philosopher of New Eng- 
land, the only man of his time whose influence as a great 
public teacher equaled his own: 

His weight was like the falling of a planet; his discretion the 
return of its due and perfect curve. 

He was not more distinguished from other public 
speakers by his severe reason, his sound sense, and his 
lofty eloquence than by his moderation and restraint. He 
was master of every emotion but one — love of country. 
That alone he allowed to obtain mastery of him. 

It was hard for him to argue the wrong side. His 
genius was less the genius of the advocate than of the 



140 Address of Mr. Hoar on the 

judge. His style was the fit vehicle for truth only. His 
clear logic could never be at the command of error. 
Calhoun, in his dying hours, said, when Mr. Webster's 
name was mentioned to him: 

Mr. Webster has as high a standard of truth as any statesman I 
have met in debate. Convince him, and he can not reply; he is 
silenced ; he can not look truth in the face and oppose it by argu- 
ment. I think that it could be readily perceived when he felt the 
force of an unanswerable reply. 

It is scarcely too much to say that Daniel Webster 
first taught his country her own greatness. There can 
be found no utterance of his, whether he speaks of his 
country or in behalf of his country, which is not in a 
manner befitting a first-class power among the nations 
of the world. There is no vanity or pettiness or boasting. 
There is no deference or beseeching in his tone. The 
contrast in this particular between Mr. Webster's state 
papers and many of those that preceded his time, and 
some, I am sorry to say, of a time later than his, is quite 
marked. This lofty and dignified tone marks all his 
speeches from his first entrance upon public view. No 
Englishman, no Greek, no Roman ever felt a loftier pride 
in the character of his country, in his country's proudest 
day, than Daniel Webster felt in his. 

From the time of his first public speech which arrested 
the attention of his countrymen until to-day his speeches 
are the literature of American nationality. No other 
orator or statesman divides with him this honor. Mothers 
teach their children the love of country in his words. 
The schoolboy knows them b\- heart. On every patriotic 
anniversary the orators repeat them. They are inscribed 



Acceptance of the Statue of Daniel Webster. 141 

on the walls of banquet halls and on triumphal banners. 
They will never be forgotten. They are to the American 
what the Psalms of David were to the Hebrew, what the 
songs of Burns are to the Scotchman. 

If Mr. Webster had died when General Ta\lor was 
nominated'for the Presidency in 1848, he would have gone 
down in our history as its chief historical figure, save 
Washington and Lincoln alone. The estimate in which 
the people of New England would have held him would, 
I think, have been accepted by the whole country, and 
would have scarcely fallen short of idolatry. There would 
have been perhaps a little complaint that in his last years 
he had been slow and unready in taking his place as the 
foremost leader and champion of liberty and in marshal- 
ing her hosts for the great struggle for dominion over the 
vast territory' between the Mississippi and the Pacific. But 
the judgment of the country would have been that such 
hesitation was only the deliberation due to the gravity of 
the question and the importance of liis own relation to it. 

Until the 7th of March, 1850, he was the oracle of New 
England. His portrait was upon the farmers' walls. He 
seemed to dwell at every fireside, not so much a guest as at 
home, in an almost bodily presence, mingling with every 
discussion where the power, the glory, or the authorit}- of 
the country was in question. Before 1S50 D.\niel Web- 
ster had never come off defeated from any intellectual en- 
counter or lowered his spear before any antagonist. In the 
strifes of party politics his side had often been defeated. 
But his arguments of fundamental questions had sunk deep 
into the hearts and had convinced the reason of the vast 
majority of his countrymen of all parties. 



142 Address of Mr. Hoar on the 

But in 1850, for the first time, he encountered quite an- 
other antagonist. He put himself in opposition to the 
conscience of the North. The voice of law, as he inter- 
preted it, and the voice of God, speaking to the individual 
soul, for the first time in our national history seemed to be 
in conflict. I suppose the time has not yet come for a 
sound and dispassionate judgment of Mr. Webster's mo- 
tives in choosing his side. It is possible that, like so many 
other and ordinary men, he hardly knew them himself. A 
man conscious of great powers, the object of a worship 
amounting almost to idolatry, not merely from common 
men, but from the ablest, wisest, and most illustrious of his 
contemporaries, knowing well his own fitness for the high- 
est public service, and knowing also his own purpose to 
employ supreme power, if intrusted with it, solely for the 
public advantage, can hardly measure the influence of am- 
bition as affecting his judgment. 

Mr. Webster was doubtless sincere when he stated his 
apprehension of a dissolution of the Union, and of the vast 
mischief to humanity if that dissolution should be accom- 
plished. Subsequent events and calmer reflection have 
shown that in this respect it was he, and not his opponents, 
■who was right. But no language can fitly describe the 
condition of mind with which the report of Mr. Webster's 
speech of the 7th of March, 1850, was heard. Nothing 
could have resisted the dominion of Daniel Webster 
over New England until he provoked an encounter with 
the inexorable conscience of the Puritan. The shock of 
amazement, of consternation, and of grief which went 
through the North has had no parallel save that which 
attended the assassination of Lincoln. Is it you, Daniel 



Acceptance of tlic Statue of Daniel Webster. 143 

Webster, who are giving us this counsel? Do you tell 
us that when the fugitive slave girl lays her suppliant 
hands on the horns of the altar it is our duty to send her 
back to be scourged, to be outraged, to be denied the right 
to read her Bible, to be the mother of a progeny on whom, 
for countless generations, these things shall be the common 
and relentless doom? Is it you — the orator of Plymouth 
Rock, of Bunker Hill, defender of the Constitution — fiom 
whose volcanic lips came those words of molten lava, 
"Liberty and Union, now and forever, one and insep- 
arable"? Has the intellect that wrought out the massive 
logic of tiie reply to Hayne descended to this pitiful argu- 
ment? Do we — 

Ask for this great deliverer now, and find him 
Eyeless in Gaza at the mill with slaves ? 

Is it slavery and Union, now and forever, one and insep- 
arable? Do you, who erected in imperishable granite the 
eternal monument of Nathan Dane among the massive 
columns of your great argument, tell us now that natural 
conditions are to determine the question of slavery, and 
that an ordinance of freedom is an affront to the South, 
and that we must not reenact the law of God ? Is the great 
territory between the Mississippi and the Pacific to be left 
to its fate? Do you, who came to the side of Andrew 
Jackson in 1832, counsel that the lawful authority of this 
nation shall yield to the threats of revolution and seces- 
sion? Is it from you that we hear that there is no higher 
law ? Even if you are right in your interpretation of the 
Constitution, when did you discover that it was greater 
than the law of God? 



144 Address of Mr. Hoar on the 

Were not the mandates of Laud, which the Puritans 
resisted and from which they fled, founded upon English 
law? Was not the revocation of the edict of Nantes from 
the same lawful authority as that which enacted it? Were 
not the doings of St. Bartholomew's eve by command of 
a lawful king? Did not the English judges determine the 
question of the right to impose ship money in the king's 
favor? Were Hampden and Russell mere traitors and 
agitators? Your doctrine condemns in one breath the 
champions and the martyrs of English liberty and of 
our own. 

'Sir. Webster, for the first time in his life, failed to com- 
prehend the temper of the people among whom he was born 
and bred. He met this expostulation with arrogance and 
contempt. It was perhaps not unnatural. He was grow- 
ing old. He had been fed on adulation. He had found no 
antagonists fit to cope with him, or who dared to cope with 
him. He had failed — 

Only when he tried 

The adamant of the righteous side. 

He had an old man's dread of a new order of things. 
He had a not ungenerous ambition. He was right in his 
estimate of public danger. His constitutional arguments 
remained unanswered. 

Webster died while the storm of this mighty conflict 
was still raging. He was disappointed in the hope that it 
would be given to him to compose it. The compromises 
which he had hoped would settle forever the questions 
growing out of slavery were never observed by either side. 
In the national convention of his own party, as its candi- 
date for the Presidency in 1852, out of two hundred and 



Acceptance of the Statue of Daniel Webster. 145 

ninety-three votes he received but thirty. He counseled 
his friends to cast their votes for tlie candidate of tlie 
Democracy, and went home to Marshfield to die prema- 
turely, and — 

Foiled in aim and hope, bereaved 

Of old friends, by the new deceived, 

Beside the lonely Northern sea. 

Where long and low the marsh lands spread. 

Laid wearily down his august head. 

It would have been fortunate for Mr. Webster'. s hap- 
piness and for his fame if he had died before 1850. But 
what would have been his fame and what would have 
been his happiness if his life could have been spared till 
1865 ! He would have seen the transcendent issue on 
which the fate of the countr)- hung made up as he had 
framed it in 1830. Union and liberty, the law of man and 
the law of God, the Constitution and natural justice, the 
august voice of patriotism and the august voices of the 
men who settled the country and of the men who framed 
the Constitution are all speaking on the .same side. He 
would have lived to see the time for concession all gone 
by; the flag falling from Sumter's walls caught as it fell by 
the splendid youth of 1861 ; the armed hosts pressing upon 
the Capitol beaten back, everything which he had loved, 
everything which he had worked for in the prime of his 
years and in the strength of his manhood, rallying upon 
one side — patriotism, national authority, law, conscience, 
duty, all speaking together and all speaking through his 
lips and repeating his maxims. He would have seen his 
great arguments in the reply to Hayne, in the debates with 
Calhoun, inspiring, guiding, commanding, strengthening. 



146 Address of Mr. Hoar on /he 

The judge in the court is citing them. The orator in the 
Senate is repeating them. The soldier by the camp fire 
is meditating them. The Union cannon is shotted with 
them. They are flashing from the muzzle of the rifle. 
They are gleaming in the stroke of the saber. They are 
heard in the roar of the artillery. They shine on the ad- 
vancing banner. They mingle with the shout of vic- 
tory. They conquer in the surrender of Appomattox. 
They abide fore ver and forever in the returning reason of 
an estranged section and the returning loyality of a united 
people! Oh, if he could but have lived! If he could but 
have lived, how the hearts of his countrymen would have 
come back to him! 

What will be the final verdict of mankind upon the last 
three years of the life of Daniel Web.ster it would be 
arrogance and presumption here to declare. But whether, 
as many men think, they will be held to have been 
but another instance of human frailty, giving waj' before 
a supreme temptation, to be pitied, to be pardoned, to be 
forgotten, or whether those years will be held to have been 
years of a supreme and noble sacrifice of self to patriotism 
and for the safety of the country, it is too early, although 
nearly half a century has gone by, to pronounce with confi- 
dence. May none of us in our humbler public career be 
subjected to such a test or be brought to the bar of history 
to receive its sentence after such a trial! 

The bitterest enemy, the most austere judge, must grant 
to Daniel Webster a place with the great intellects of 
the world. He was among the greatest. Of all the men 
who have rendered great services to America and to the 
cause of constitutional liberty there are but two or three 



Acceptance of the Statue of Daniel Webster. 147 

names worth)- to be placed by the side of his. Of all the 
lovers of his country, no man ever loved her with a greater 
love. In all the attributes of a mighty and splendid man- 
hood he never had a superior on earth. Master of English 
speech, master of the loftiest emotions that stirred the 
hearts of his countrymen, comprehending better than any 
other man save Marshall the principles of her Constitution, 
he is the one foremost figure in our history between the 
day when Washington died and the day when Lincoln took 
the oath of office. 



Address of Mr. Morgan on the 



ADDRESS OF Mr. Morgan. 

Mr. President: It is said of Daniel Webster that 
the last utterances of his tongue were, " I still live. " We 
are here to-day for the purpose of affirming by the action of 
this august body that he who lived in this Chamber, in 
this association, and under the Constitution of the United 
States, with so much renown, still lives in tlie hearts of his 
countrymen, and particularly he lives in the hearts and 
admiration of the Senate of the United States. He lives 
in such a way that no American regrets that he ever lived. 
His life was so perfectly rounded out; his spirit of devotion 
to America and American institutions was so thorough, so 
irreproachable; his love of his country and of the people 
of his country, his respect for them, his fellowship with 
them, and his admiration of the people, were so great that 
he has not left in their hearts a sting or a feeling of resent- 
ment which has survived the half century of his active 
life, or the other half centur\- during which he has been 
lying in his honored grave. 

This, Mr. President, in my estimation, is, after all, the 
highest achievement of American statesmanship, that when 
a man has passed his life in the public councils and has 
gone away, the subsequent generations of his countrymen 
shall say of him, "He served his country with fidelity and 
without a feeling of personal ambition for his own exalta- 
tion; he devoted himself assiduously, honestly, and sin- 
cerely to his duties; he followed his convictions amidst all 
clamors and all reproaches and against all opposition, and 



Acceptance of the Statue of Daniel Webster. 149 

he gave to his country that sincere and noble service as a 
statesman which should stand as a lesson to all coming 
generations of men, from which they could gather profit 
for themselves and for their country, and could forever 
stand together as brethren, without reproach for any differ- 
ences of opinion honestly entertained. His life, his opin- 
ions, his policies, and his sentiments were not reproachful 
to other Americans while he lived, and his memory is an 
honorable treasure to America." 

Such was the career of Daniel Webster, as I under- 
stand it, as I receive it from history, and as I appreciate 
and applaud it. I had not the opportunity of knowing 
this distinguished American, neither have I resided in 
that part of the country where the least incident of his life 
is treasured up as if it were a precious jewel among his 
acquaintances, his friends, and his constituents. But what 
I receive from the public history of the United States, of 
which his life is an essential part, is that which is received 
and recorded in the hearts of all Americans — that there 
was no more eminent statesman than Daniel Webster, 
perhaps no abler lawyer than he, and certainly no man 
who was more profoundly determined in the support of the 
Constitution of the United States, which rests with the ob- 
ligation of an oath upon every conscience that has any 
dealing with the Government in any official relation. 

The Senator from Massachusetts [Mr. Hoar] has pointed 
out the very extraordinary and tremendous state of agi- 
tated feeling that occurred in New England after Mr. 
Webster had made his speech in the Senate of the United 
States on the Wilmot proviso. Doubtless his great and 
magnanimous and tender heart was much disturbed by the 



15(t Address of Mr. Morgan on the 

fact that he had aroused the censures of those who loved 
hini so much and whom in return he so well loved. But 
if I were called to point out in the history of Daniel 
Webster the most conspicuous evidence of his great 
moral power and moral courage, it would be that, follow- 
ing his own convictions and guided by his own sense of 
duty to his country, he obeyed the Constitution of the 
United States rather than the clamor and sentiment of 
those by whom he was most nearly surrounded and was 
most beloved. That I consider the highest example that 
he has left in the history of his life of the majesty and 
grandeur and nobility of his character. 

I could not point out an incident in the life of Daxiel 
Webster that would add anything to what is known by 
his countrymen in respect of the history of his career. It 
is not necessary that I should do so. His reputation is 
monumental in that it stands conspicuously up amongst 
the loftiest characters that America has produced, and in 
its simplicity and truth attracts the attention, the venera- 
tion, and the love of all Americans — yea, of all English- 
speaking people, and of all the people in the world who 
have respect for our system of constitutional law and free 
institutions. 

I might add that his reputation is not only monumental, 
but it is immortal, for immortality as we understand it con- 
sists in the fact that the memory of one is carried on from 
generation to generation while this world shall exist, from 
lip to lip and from page to page of history, so that the 
readers who stand at the farthest imaginable end of this 
great line shall understand the character of the man who 
has thus built for himself a glory that is inextinguishable. 



Accept a )ice of the Statue of Daniel Webster. 1-11 

That, after all, is true immortality, as we understand it ; 
and yet there is an immortality that is given to us which 
is personal to us, which concerns us and us alone, which 
relates to a different sphere of existence after ^ye have thrown 
off this mortal coil. In that immortality his fame is tried 
by severer tests than we can apply ; but I do not doubt that 
in that land he is still engaged in some noble employ and 
is conscious of the love of his countrymen. 

But in respect of the immortality which men create by 
the transmission of their belief in and their veneration for 
the character of those who have lived in this world 
Daniel Web.ster has achieved immortality, and he yet 
lives. He will live, Mr. President, as long as history 
lives. Not an incident of his life of any importance will 
have faded from the memory of man when the child that is 
born centuries hereafter shall gaze upon him with even a 
clearer and more distinct vision than those had who had 
the honor and privilege of living in his presence in this 
world. That is true immortality. That he achieved this 
great and conspicuous honor on the floor of the Senate 
more than elsewhere in the world is an honor to this body 
which we should fully appreciate and always preserve 
among our brightest recollections and our most cherished 
traditions. 

As a Senator from the South, I take great pleasure in 
participating in an occasion which has for its purpose the 
recalling of some of the splendors of Webster's achieve- 
ments and some of his great efforts in debate upon the 
floor of this Chamber. Whether New England exhausted 
herself in the production of Webster, or whether others 
may come like him hereafter, it makes no difference. In 



152 Addi'css of Mr. Morgan on the 

Webster those older States bestowed upon America a 
grand endowment. He has, as the Senator from New 
Hampshire [Mr. Chandler] stated, when he left his native 
State, passed out into the keeping of the people of the 
United States, and they will not only always cherish and 
revere his memory, but they will feel proud that they 
belong to his country; and Senators in this Chamber will 
feel a just pride that they are members of that body 
among whom he labored so faithfully for this great Gov- 
ernment. 

The history of two lives has been presented to-day by 
New Hampshire for us to think about and to emulate. 
The one was a great general of the Revolutionar\' war, 
who was amongst the redeemers of the people. With his 
sword, his great daring,'his intrepidity, his chivalrous bear- 
ing, with all that belongs to the actual heroism of a great 
soldier, that noble Revolutionary general assisted in reliev- 
ing a people from the thralldom of submission to a Govern- 
ment that had become their persecutor, their oppressor. 
The other man was not a redeemer of the people from 
oppression, but he was a teacher, a teacher of the Senate 
of the United States, of the Congress of the United States, 
of foreign nations, and more particularly and more essen- 
tially of the great body of the people of the United States. 

He was a great teacher as to the form and essence of this 
Government, and of the nice and delicate bearings and 
adjustment of all its different parts in their relation to each 
other. He was less a combatant for his opinions upon the 
floor of the Senate than he was an instructor to all Sena- 
tors, those who opposed and those who agreed with him, 
upon the proper construction of the principles of the 



Acceptance of the Statue of Daniel Webster. 153 

Government under which we live, and of the Constitution, 
which is the exponent and embodiment of those principles. 
Hence it was that it has been said here to-day that he fol- 
lowed the lead of Henry Clay, the great popular statesman 
of the South and West, and that at times he yielded his opin- 
ions and changed his position from one attitude to another 
as measures were expounded and illustrated by the argu- 
ments of some other great Senator on this floor. 

Daniel Webster did not change his views to meet any 
man's opinions, in my judgment, nor did he follow Mr. 
Clay because of his supremacy in leadership; but he fol- 
lowed his own clear conscience and sound judgment in 
respect of the fundamental law of the United States, and 
where that led, it mattered not where or into what com- 
pany, he went willingly and with a firm and brave step to 
the front. That is my conception of him; that, above all 
else, is why I admire him; that is why the people whom I 
represent here respect his reputation as an honor to them, 
although in many respects his position on public measures 
seemed to be adverse to what they considered as being the 
policy which would best subserve their interests. 

Mr. President, this man is a very peculiar character in 
American history. He was born in 1782, seven years 
before the Constitution of the United States was adopted. 
We then had no President of the United States. That 
oflSce had not been created. These thirteen States had 
separate sovereignty of such an independent character with 
respect to each other that they were in every essential 
sense foreign States. They were drawing together under 
the impulse of a necessity for forming a better, a wiser, 
and a stronger government, but their assemblage was not 



154 Address of Mr. Morgan on the 

by any means a merely sentimental union of states. They 
came together dispassionately and with prearrangement 
which involved the discussion of every principle of gov- 
ernment which concerned the formation of this great 
Union under which we are now living, and this Constitu- 
tion, which is the supreme law not of this land only but 
is the supreme law of humanity, and will hereafter become 
the supreme law of nations. 

Webster was seven years old when that Constitution 
was adopted. He took his degree and left Dartmouth Col- 
lege in 1801. At that time there were fifteen States in the 
Union; but when he died, in 1852, there were thirty-two 
States in the Union. So his life measured the beginning 
and the development of the most wonderful system of 
government which was ever ordained by the wisdom of 
man, bringing greater growth and prosperity than has been 
witnessed by any government or people in all the ages of 
history. 

In the midst of all this growth there was need of men 
like Daniel Webster and John Marshall for the purpose 
of regulating and settling in respect of this new plan of 
government those fine and nice distinctions in regard to 
the powers possessed by the United States and the powers 
possessed by the several States which have been so impor- 
tant, and are still so important, in the adjustment of the 
relations of those States with each other in the Union 
which we Senators represent here. 

It was an inconceivable blessing to the American people 
that such a man was found, with such splendid powers of 
reasoning and orator>', such clear conscience, such firm 
resolution, and so just a mind, to lay down in the very 



Acceptance of the Statue of Da?iie/ JI'e/>ste/: 155 

beginning, as with the prescience of prophecy, and to adjust 
to the narrowest and nicest lines the principles upon which 
these different great organizations and sovereign States 
could associate with each other without friction and 
without danger. 

In that direction he accomplished as much as any other 
American statesman, and in doing that work he has con- 
ferred upon us a blessing of incalculable value, for which I 
love his name, reverence his meinor)', and would do honor 
to his glorious fame. 

Perhaps Daniel Webster is entitled to a certain dis- 
tinction of being the most American of those statesmen 
who have represented us in our foreign relations, not be- 
cause he felt any more sensibly or was any more firmly 
convinced of the proud attitude which we had a right to 
occupy among the nations of this earth than others were, 
but because his great resolution and his massive powers, 
when they were brought into action upon questions of a 
diplomatic kind with other governments, moved directly 
and without hesitancy to the American interpretation of 
those questions, and he never halted in his march until he 
achieved glory for his country and security for her institu- 
tions and her rights. 

No man has excelled him in the State Department in the 
strong and earnest presentation of the American view of all 
questions which concern our relations with foreign govern- 
ments, and no man ever had a more difficult task than to 
adjust, I might say, the limited powers of the Government 
of the United States and its peculiar organization, through 
the relations we hold with other powers, to their peculiari- 
ties and with their methods of conducting diplomatic 



156 Address of Mr. Morgan on the 

afikirs. Perhaps the McLeod case presents the most per- 
fect illustration of that situation, and shows as distinctly 
as anything else that this great statesman ever did how 
well he understood the duties of the Federal Government 
toward the American States and toward foreign countries. 
Mr. President, I have not attempted in what I have said 
to eulogize Daniel Webster. I do not aspire to the 
ability to pronounce a eulogy upon him. If I have con- 
veyed to this Senate some idea of the high appreciation in 
which I hold this great character, this splendid man, that 
is all I desired to do. I e.xpect to place no additional crown 
of honor upon his brow, or to add a thought which could 
give greater majesty to his character or make his memory 
sweeter among the American people. 



Acceptance of the Statue of Daniel Webster. 



ADDRESS OF MR. MORRILL. 

Mr. President: My remarks on this occasion will be 
brief, and perhaps I should not have spoken at all but for 
my abiding interest in the progressive enrichment of the 
National Statuary Hall. 

New Hampshire must be heartily congratulated upon her 
admirable selection of the historic characters she has 
chosen to commemorate. The Granite State justly claims 
much in presenting Webster and Stark as her sons, but 
they will be greeted with equal homage and affection by the 
whole nation. 

A Boston critic once stated that "the principal wealth 
of New Hampshire is great men and water power; but 
instead of keeping them herself she squanders them on 
Massachusetts, and Webster was one of those free gifts. ' ' 
The critic should have added that no State can better 
afford to permit another State to replevy what rightly 
belongs to it than Massachusetts. 

The number of American statesmen and heroes already 
represented in that superb and venerated Hall, with the 
long list of worthies sure to find a place there, but still held 
in reserve by States embarrassed by too large a number 
entitled to selection, or by worthies not yet fully ripe, are 
suflScient to give abundant assurance that this large assem- 
blage of statues will be of unrivaled public interest, a dis- 
tinctive honor to the several States, and wholly worthy of 
the Republic. 

The majestic form of Daniel Webster has been so fre- 
quently presented in bronze and marble, and his life and 



158 Address of M)\ Morrill on the 

character so often portrayed by those who best knew his 
intellectual endowments, and were best qualified to appre- 
ciate him as a lawyer and as an orator, or as a statesman 
and Cabinet minister, that for me it is a dubious task to 
add a word to what has been more fitly spoken long^ ago, 
or that will be by others here to-day. 

Probably only a small number of those present to-day 
ever saw or heard Mr. WEBSTER speak in either branch of 
Congress; but no man who ever looked upon him would 
fail to discover that he was a man of no common mold, 
and it would be safe to say that in the presence of any 
"sea of upturned faces" of Americans his intellectual 
primacy would not be contested. 

It was my fortune to listen to a political speech of Mr. 
Webster in 1840, at Baltimore, the same year at Orford, 
N. H., and years after in Faneuil Hall. Again, being in 
Boston, and learning that an important patent case was to 
be on trial in the United States district court, where Mr. 
Choate was the counsel on one side and Mr. WebsteR on 
the other, I lost no time in securing a seat in the court- 
house. Different in manner as might be supposed that of 
Achilles and Ulysses would be, both greatly interested me, 
as both appeared to be exerting their utmost professional 
skill to win the case. To me the treat seemed worth a 
journey across the continent. 

I was in Washington in 1836, 1840, 1848, and 1852, and 
of course saw Mr. WEBSTER, but never heard him speak 
at any length in the Senate. I may, however, be pardoned 
for mentioning one or two occurrences that came under my 
observation more than forty years ago, though of little 
importance, and will trench very little upon your time. 



Acceptance of the Statue of Daniel Webster. 159 

On one of these early Washington visits I was present 
at an all-night session of the Senate in the old vSenate 
Chamber. As the hours grew late all got tired, and Islr. 
Webster bent his head over his desk, with his face pil- 
lowed on his hands, while another Senator in a rambling 
speech, and suddenly enthused with rapturous admiration 
for Mr. Webster, pronounced him "The statesman! 
the historian! the philosopher! the poet!" when Air. 
Webster, halfway raising his head, in a gruff voice ejac- 
ulated, " Hnougli ! enough!" Senator Butler, of South 
Carolina, evidently thought so too, but had some difficulty 
in persuading the jubilant member to take his seat. 

A day or two in advance of the meeting of the Whig 
national convention in Baltimore, in 1852, to which I was 
a delegate, to nominate a Presidential candidate, I \isited 
Washington, and was invited, with others, by Mr. W^eb- 
STER, then Secretary of State, to dinner. As it was not 
my intention to support I\Ir. Webster in the convention, 
the invitation was rather regretted; but, being told by a 
friend that such an invitation here from the President or 
the Secretary of State was never to be declined, it was 
accepted. There were about a dozen at the table, Mrs. 
Webster being the only lady. Mr. Webster appeared in 
his blue coat with gilt buttons, light buff vest, low shoes, 
and white silk half hose, and led the conversation most 
happily, whether grave or gay. Upon leaving the dining- 
room the gentlemen all returned to the drawing-room, and 
there Mr. Webster was so gracious and attractive in gen- 
eral and special conversation as to quickly place everyone 
at his ease, especially as he did not even allude to the com- 
ing convention. By way of iiiquir)- as to the preparation 



160 Address of Mr. Morrill on the 

of his speeches I ventured to say I had heard it stated 
that among the passages often quoted one had been con- 
ceived by him many years prior to utterance, and referred 
to his picturesque description of the power of England, 
"Whose morning drumbeat, following the sun and keep- 
ing company with the hours, circles the earth with the 
continuous and unbroken strain of the martial airs of 
England. ' ' 

He promptly replied, "As a mere fact, it is true that, 
while visiting Quebec several years before the speech of 
1834, one morning I arose early, as is my wont, and 
walked out upon the ramparts of the city, where I soon 
heard the morning drumbeat. It then occurred to me that 
this, a little later, would be repeated at Montreal, then at 
Toronto, again in Columbia, and so on around the world," 
adding, "Oh, J never pretended to be one of the inspired 
geniuses. I bring forth nothing without labor. If not 
precisely at the time, it has cost labor at some time. ' ' 

When I left his residence, then on D street northwest, 
Mr. Webster seemed to have grown greater to me, and, 
unlike some so-called great men, who, as you get nearer 
to them, become slender, if not mediocre, he appeared, 
like a Doric temple, to loom up more grandly the nearer 
approached. 

The next day, however, I did not vote in his favor at 
the convention, the speech of March 7, 1850, being insur- 
mountable; but I ever felt glad, proud, that Daniel 
Webster was born, lived, and died an American. 



Acceptance of the Statue of Daniel II 'ebste 



Address of Mr. Cavis, 

j\Ir. President: The corner stone of the extension of 
the Capitol was laid on the 4th day of Jnly, 1S51, and 
Daniel Webster was the orator of the e\eiit. It was 
most appropriate that he who for a generation had bnilded 
upon the foundations of the Constitution such cyclopean 
architecture of intellectual power should speak the words 
of dedication of this marble pile, and the Constitution 
which it symbolizes, to the love of the people and the pro- 
tection of Almighty God. 

And now, after the lapse of more than forty years, the 
mother State which held him in her granite cradle has 
proudly set up in this building the image of her wondrous 
son. It was not needed, yet it was fitting to be done. 
Some men, and of them was Webster, can not be 
expressed by monuments. We say of such a man: 

Nothing can cover his high fame but heaven; 
No pyramids set off his memories 
But the eternal substance of his greatness, 
To which we leave hitn. 

The time of that ceremony was a troubled one. The 
future was black with portents. Compromises had been 
repealed, and substituted compromises were proving to be 
mere vanishing makeshifts. The earth was tremulous 
with two vast agitations. They were conflicting and 
destructive. The North was slowly moving with reluctant 
yet ominous power. The South, in possession of safe- 
guards which could not save, knew this fact, and was in 



162 Address of Mr. Davis on the 

the first throes of that convulsion which at last opened the 
chasm of disunion by war. 

In the midst of such agitations this was one of WEB- 
STER'S last public uttearances, and in it he pleaded with 
passionate earnestness for the supremacy of the Constitu- 
tion and the preservation of the Union. 

His life had been one long advocacy of these objects. 
His devotion to them explains, if it does not justify, every 
position he 'ever assumed. From his Fourth of July ora- 
tion at Salisbury in 1805 until he ceased to speak he stood 
before the Constitution and the Union their ever-ready 
champion. He thought that the Constitution as it was 
could preserve the Union as it was. Even after the world 
saw that this could not be, millions of patriotic men looked 
with loyal hope upon the mighty defender of a falling 
cause, panoplied with armor that none but he could bear, 
and dealing blows that he alone could give. 

It is not strange that everything was hoped from him 
who had done so much to raise and strengthen the imper- 
iled institutions. For constitutions are made, and then they 
begin to grow. If they are not suffered to grow, the)- dis- 
locate, disconnect, and fall to pieces. No scheme, however 
wisely devised, that they may contain for their formal and 
orderly amendment can avoid this process. It is the action 
of public necessity, coercing and convincing the popular 
thought and will, which exert themselves through great 
and chosen men. The Constitution of the United States 
was thus made, it thus grew, and D.\niel Webster and 
John Marshall were the great and chosen men who mainly 
did the work. 

It can not fairly be questioned that when the great 



Acceptance of the Statue of Daniel Webster. 1 63 

debate was held between Webster and Hayne our Consti- 
tution had thus expanded. Tlie process was slow, inter- 
mittent, sometimes reactionar}-, but it can be perceived by 
observing the stages that are distant from each other. The 
Senator from Massachusetts [Mr. Lodge] has clearly seen 
and stated this in his life of Webster. Necessity had 
decreed that the compact between the States should be- 
come a personal covenant and duty between the people of 
those States. Andrew Jackson had so proclaimed it to the 
people of his native State. But it was reserved for Daniel 
Webster to register this transformation by an edict which 
has never been reversed. 

This was his greatest service to his country. The league 
became a nation; the federation became a unit}'. From 
that time forth it can be plainly seen that the United 
States moved with a loftier port among the nations and 
felt within itself the workings of a greater and growing 
power, until, when the time came for its exercise upon 
.sectional revolt, it was found that never in all the tide of 
time, under any form of government that man has known, 
were energies so enormous displayed for national suprem- 
acy and preservation. 

At the bar, in the Senate, in the Cabinet, D.\niel 
Webster built upon and expanded the Constitution be- 
yond any man of his time or any party of men. Yet it has 
been said of him that he was not a constructive statesman, 
that he originated few measures, drafted few statutes, and 
that he was a mere demonstrator. Exactly the contrary is 
the fact. He was the most constructive of American 
statesmen. He construed the Constitution constructively 
in nearly all of its articles. He applied it and expounded 



164 Address of Air. Davis on the 

it, and to-day his personality is inseparably identified with 
it as it is. 

This majestic presence among men seemed born for this 
great duty. His cosmic intellect seemed from the day of 
its first exertions to fill the Union. What trait did he 
display to indicate in what State he was born? He was 
not a Puritan. He showed no trace of provincialism. He 
filled the land. This mighty Antaeus drew strength from 
contact with every portion of it. 

It is said that he erred at last. This is true. A divinity 
stronger than he, that power that through the popular con- 
science makes weak all human strength, lifted this giant 
from contact with the earth that gave him power. The 
overmastering force it once had given him no longer came. 
He struggled with stronger powers than his until earth 
took him, stilled in the sublime repose of death, into her 
bosom at IMarshfield, where the sea intones its everlasting 
monody at his tomb. 

Censure has ceased to vex his memory; contemporary 
blame has somehow turned to praise; for we hear now only 
the loving undertones of Whittier's lyric, only the tender 
pathos with which Parker immolated his memory. Pos- 
terity has seen, what so many of his contemporaries failed 
to see, that the acts they blamed were the efforts of a great 
man, mistaken as to the forces and tendencies of his time, 
to uphold the Constitution and to preserve the Union from 
disruption by revolutionary force. The Constitution and 
the Union were preserved, but not by the means through 
which he strove. The fountains of the great deep broke 
■with destructive power, as he predicted they would. He 
did not live to see this. But could he stand to-day in his 



Acceptance of the Statue of Daniel Webster. 1(;5 

place in this Chamber he would see the Constitution work- 
ing with powers adequate to every emergency; a Union 
restored and preserved, with no North, no South, no East, 
no West as political definitions; he would see all this effi- 
cient over a nation grown great beyond any prediction he 
ever made. He would also feel that the deliberate judg- 
ment of the generation next his own had decided that his 
efforts imparted to the people powers of constitutional 
action which secured "Liberty and Union, now and forever, 
one and inseparable." 

It is now forty-two years since the setting of that sun. 
But in all time to come, whenever the Constitution and 
the Union may be darkened like the northern continent in 
some long arctic night, that sunken orb, circling fore\-er 
beyond the horizon of time, will irradiate the gloom of 
the world it shone upon with its unquenchable and guid- 
ing light. 



Address of Mr. Piatt on the 



Address of Mr. Platt. 

Mr. President: The State in which Daniel Webster 
was born, nurtured, and educated, in which his vigorous 
manhood was developed, does well in placing his statue 
in our Memorial Hall. When those whom we lo\-e and 
reverence depart from us, our dearest wish is to mark their 
resting place with some memorial which shall perpetuate 
their virtues and tell posterity how much we loved them. 
The monument, whether simple or ornate, is as truly a 
necessity of our lives as is the family home. Love and 
faith, which flourish at the fireside, find expression, when 
our loved ones are gone, in the monuments which mark 
their graves, in the portraits or statues which preserve their 
semblance. 

Closely related to this individual necessity is the com- 
mon desire of the whole people in State or Nation to 
honor their departed heroes and great ones by memorials 
which shall appropriately and enduringly proclaim their 
admiration, reverence, and affection. The hero, the great 
man, belongs not to his family and friends alone, but to 
all alike — to the State, the Nation; indeed, to all man- 
kind for all time. 

The longing to tell coming generations of Webster 
finds its best expression in the marble statue which pre- 
serves his features and displays the lineaments of his char- 
acter. And the appropriate place for that statue is in 
National Statuary Hall, in the building where his greatest 
work was accomplished, where his most patriotic and 



Aa-cplainr of the Statu,- of Daiiwl W, Inter. 167 

signal triumphs were achieved. He returns to-day to the 
scene of his struggle, to the arena where his eternal 
trophies were won. Henceforth the marble shall be im- 
bued with life, and to all who look upon it and love our 
country Webster shall be a new in.spiration. 

Those who by law set apart yonder hall to its memorial 
use builded better than they knew. The fires of patriotism 
are kindled at the hearthstones of the people; but as the 
years roll on the silent yet eloquent figures in Statuary- 
Hall will more and more increase patriotic devotion and 
help to bind together more firmly the country in whose 
history the men thus represented were such great actors. 

Yes, New Hampshire does well when it places the statue 
of Webster in our historic and memorial hall, for he 
was one of the Nation's greatest men. Many have esteemed 
him, many in the future will esteem him, to have been the 
greatest civilian the country has produced; none will deny 
him a place among the greatest. He does not belong 
alone to New Hampshire, where he was born, nor to 
Massachusetts, where he died; but his name, his fame, and 
his greatness are the heritage of all. Daniel Webster 
belongs to the Nation. 

The really great men of any period are but few; and 
when a man does indeed compel the acknowledgment of 
his preeminence among a race where all possess the ele- 
ments of greatness, we may do especial honor to his mem- 
ory. Webster lived and moved in a period when all 
possessed in a marked degree robust manhood, high pur- 
pose, unyielding strength. "There were giants in those 
days;" and yet as I read history I think he stood higher 
than any other man of that period — a giant among giants. 



168 Address of Mr. Piatt on the 

I have often looked upon a forest of sturdy trees outlined 
against the clear twilight sky, and have seen here and there 
a tree which pushed its branches higher than the surround- 
ing level of tree-tops. Few indeed they were ; but some- 
times as my eye swept the whole forest line it has rested at 
last upon a single tree, towering in grand and massive 
strength above all others — a veritable monarch of the 
forest — symmetrical and strong, meeting unharmed the full 
measure of every storm. 

Such was Webster. The men of his generation were 
robust and forceful. A few — I need not name them — were 
exceptional in their eminence ; but he overtopped them all. 
To what particular trait, quality, or circumstance he owed 
this conspicuous exaltation we may not be certain, any 
more than we may know to what in seed or soil or 
environment we may attribute the growth of the tallest and 
grandest oak in the forest. Men have spoken and written 
of his ancestry, of the influence upon his mind in its form- 
ative stage of beautiful and impressive scenery, of the pre- 
cepts and counsel of parents and instructors, of his early 
and continued thirst for knowledge, of his careful and 
judicious study, of his severe mental discipline, of his 
ambition, of the power begotten in fierce struggle ; and yet 
we can never be sure that we have at all discovered the 
real source of his strength. 

True greatness defies analysis, and I shall not attempt 
to analyze the character of Webster in the hope of 
describing and cataloguing the elements which composed 
it. Fascinating as the attempt would be, I could not hope 
to succeed where so many have failed. We only know that 
when a great occasion arises in history a man equal to it 



Acceptance of (he Statue of Daniel M'cbstcr. 1(5!) 

appears ou the scene. It has always been so; we may 
believe that in the providence of God it always will be so. 
We believe it was so in the case of Webster. Providence 
seems to have set before him a great work to do, for a man 
must have accomplished some great work in the world in 
order to have achieved enduring greatness. He must have 
been great in performance as well as in the utterance of 
great thoughts. 

Many are regarded great during their lives whose fame 
does not long survive them. Attractive qualities, fortunate 
opportunity, a magnetic personality may win for a man the 
applause of his fellows and give him for the time being 
deserved preeminence. But passing years are the unfailing 
test of real greatness ; and whatever men during his life- 
time may have thought, however much they ma>- have 
doubted whether he would carry into history the fame he 
achieved in his generation, now that more than forty years 
have passed since his death we know that WEBSTER was 
grandly and truly great. Time has withered none of his 
laurels ; it has steadily added to his appreciation. 

What one thing, then, more than another has caused 
Webster to live in the hearts of the people? I think 
others equaled him at the bar, and in mere eloquence as 
understood by the schools. I am quite sure that other leg- 
islators crystallized more of their thouglit into legislation 
of the day than he did. Indeed, his was not a constructive 
life; he originated little either of policies or statutes. 
With all his marvelous grasp and comprehension of public 
affairs, his speeches were mainly for or against measures 
proposed by others or in support of resolutions introduced 
by him.self expressive only of abstract opinions. He was 



170 Address of Mr. Piatt on the 

not a leader of his party in the sense that he marked out a 
course for his party to pursue. He seems often to have 
acquiesced in party measures for which he could not secure 
the approval of his own judgment. His course appears to 
have been vacillating and inconstant on many occasions. 

On what solid foundation, then, does his fame securely 
rest? I think on this: That it was given to him to see 
clearly and to convince others fully that the United States 
of America was an indissoluble Union, not a mere associa- 
tion of States, to be dissevered by the withdrawal of one 
or more, but that it was a Union of all the people — in the 
felicitous language of lyincoln, a government of the peo- 
ple, by the people, and for the people, whose laws must 
be respected and obeyed by all. 

As the great apostle to the Gentiles was raised up to 
teach mankind that all true believers constituted one church, 
Webster was raised up to teach Americans that all the 
people in all the States constituted one Government. Paul 
was the apostle of Christian unity ; WEBSTER was the apos- 
tle of our national unity. For this one great work all his 
life seems to have been a special training. His birthplace 
and home near which the Cradle of Liberty was rocked ; 
the patriotism inherited from his patriotic father ; his in- 
tense love for every foot of our soil ; his wonderful mind, 
which went to the core of every subject; his vivid imagina- 
tion, which could picture the undeveloped glory of the 
Nation; his vast range of legal learning, which fitted him 
to become the great expounder of the Constitution; a pres- 
ence which convinced equally with his logic ; an eloquence 
which electrified all hearers, and a diction which secured 
a home for his thoughts in mansion and cabin alike — 



Acceptance of the Statue of Daniel JVebstcr. 171 

all these were but a preparation for the hour when he 
should step forth in )-onder Chamber the champion of an 
indivisible Union. 

The senior Senator from New Hampshire has spoken of 
Webster as combining in greater measure than any other 
American the qualities of the lawyer, the orator, and the 
statesman. Let me add, as another and final constituent of 
the combination, that of the patriot. He was indeed great 
as a lawyer, as an orator, and as a statesman; but greater 
yet, far greater, as a patriot. In all that he said and all 
that he did the most intense and burning love of country 
was apparent. It was the keynote of nearly every public 
utterance of his life, from his first bo)-ish speech to that 
magnificent peroration, unequaled in any language, closing 
with the immortal words, "Liberty and Union, now and 
forever, one and insej^arable. " The love of country was 
with him above all other love. 

The first great battle for the Union was fought not witli 
cannon and musketry, nor with the resistless movement of 
infantry, nor the imiDetuous charge of cavalry. It was not 
won on a field with thousands of soldiers left dead, wounded, 
or dying, but it was fought and won in the old Senate 
Chamber on the 26th day of January, 1830, with weapons 
of argument and logic and patriotic eloquence wielded by 
the greatest American that ever entered the field of historic 
debate. 

Webster was needed for that contest. Looking back 
over those times, we can see no other man who could have 
fought and won that battle. That battle lost, it is not too 
much to say that the country we love and glory in to-day 
would not exist. If the doctrine of secession or the claim 



]72 Address of Mr. Flalt on (he 

that a State might declare a law of the United States null 
and void had not been that day overthrown and demol- 
ished, few will believe that the subsequent war for the 
Union could have been carried to a triumphant conclusion. 

It is hard for us to realize now what a desperate battle 
Webster then fought. The idea of national unity is now 
so firmly established that we can not understand how it 
could ever have been denied or doubted. Yet those who 
went that day to the Senate Chamber feeling that indivisi- 
bility of country ought to be the doctrine of the Constitu- 
tion went with hearts failing them for fear. They feared 
that it was not really to be found therein ; they feared that 
the true interpretation of that instrument evidenced only a 
compact between States, and that it was not the organic law 
of a perfect and complete and self-sustaining Government. 

Nor was this a strange fear. When the colonies denied 
the authority of the British Crown and declared themselves 
independent States, they did not assume to organize as a 
single and perfect government, but to confederate as thir- 
teen States; and when after a few years of experiment our 
Constitution was at last adopted, the Government created 
by it was regarded generally, I think, as an improved con- 
federation. In many States this had been openly avowed, 
and to a certain extent acquiesced in. There had been too 
much of this in New England. The Hartford Convention 
of 1814 had tolerated, if it had not asserted, the doctrine 
that a State might for sufficient cause withdraw from the 
Union. Even Web.ster, so far as I know, though he had 
never given public sanction to this idea, had never publicly 
combated it. 

When, after the war of 1812, the development of our 



Acceptance of the Statue of Daniel Webster. 173 

country opened the eyes of our public men to its future — 
as they began to love it for what it was to be, as well as 
for what it had been and was — the desire for nationality 
became the patriot's passion; his intense longing was for a 
nation that no earthly power could destroy or hinder and 
which no internal dissension could tear asunder. Grad- 
ually he came to feel that in some way ours must be an in- 
destructible nation; but he feared that the legal fact was 
otherwise. It was not until WEBSTER made good his 
promise to Senator Bell, that before the sun went down 
on that eventful day he would, by the blessing of God, 
show the people what the Go\-erument really was, that 
patriots took heart. Then they saw clearly what they 
had earnesth- hoped for, but ouh- diml)-, if at all, com- 
prehended. 

And yet it was the patriotic fervor of the people that 
made Webster's victory possible. Emerson, in an essay 
on Napoleon, says, in substance, that if Napoleon were 
France, if he were Europe, it was because the men he 
swayed were little Napoleons. So Webster became the 
exponent and bulwark of national unity because the patri- 
otic heart of the people longed for and demanded it. 

It was a great personal as well as national victory that 
Webster won on that day. They were no mean foemen 
whom he met and vanquished. They were masters of 
argument, of logic, and oratory. They were powerful in 
their combination, audacious in their attack, bitter in their 
personal dislike, and fully determined to crush not only 
Web.ster's doctrine but WebsteR hjmself 

And Webster stood alone to resist their attack, a single 
knight to answer and meet every challenger. Yet his 



] 74 Address of Mr. Piatt on the 

triumph was complete. History, I think, records no other 
such conflict and no such victory. Not for twenty-five 
years thereafter could the advocates of the theory which 
was then so boldly avowed, so audaciously championed, 
and so completely overthrown, rally to the onset again. 
And when at last the doctrine of nullification and seces- 
sion was once more proclaimed, national unity had become 
a thing no longer open to debate, but a cause which men 
were read}- to die to maintain. 

Gettysburg and Appomattox were but the sequel of that 
day's conflict. The battle which Webster fought then 
in the Senate, in the day of tlie Nation's sorest peril, saved 
the Union forever. If he could now live again and behold 
a country glorious and strong, far surpassing in its present 
and probable development all that his patriotic love had 
ever pictured, he would find his reward in the contempla- 
tion of his Nation's glory rather than in the plaudits of 
his countrymen. To that day, to that conflict, to that 
triumph, all his life led up. It culminated there. 

His life's greatest work was accomplished. Subsequent 
failure can never mar that splendid record; subsequent 
mistake can never dim the glory of the crown which a 
grateful people placed upon his head to commemorate that 
triumph. The great men of earth have not been perfect — 
the imperfection of humanity has attached to them all; 
and Webster constitutes no exception in this respect. 
But mankind justly honors its great for the courageous 
blows they have struck, for the mighty deeds they have 
done. Their foibles and mistakes we forget; their true 
work lives. We unveil this statue of Webster to-day 
because he saved our Nation. 



Acceptance of the Statue of Daniel Webste 



Address of Mr, Cullom. 

]Mr. President : Every citizen of the United States, by 
the very birthright of his citizenship, is endowed with an 
inalienable interest in the renown achieved by those great 
civil and military heroes of our land whose careers have 
long been ended, and upon whose lives history has pro- 
nounced the verdict of admiration and approval. Tliis 
inalienable interest which we proudly claim as a possessory 
right is a cherished heritage, guaranteed to us under those 
unwritten preemption laws which have decreed that the 
glorious memories of the genius, the honor, and the 
greatness of the earlier American statesmen and warriors 
shall be the common property of tlie people of this coun- 
try through the uncounted ages of future time. 

Mr. President, during the first half of the nineteenth 
century, among all the great statesmen of the Republic, 
no man occupied a higher place in the forum of the Sen- 
ate, none achieved greater success as an advocate at the 
bar, and no one so completeh- challenged the criticism 
and admiration of the American people as Daniel Web- 
ster, " the great expounder" of the Constitution. And 
although more than forty years have passed since his lips 
forever ceased to pronounce those commanding sentences, 
or paused in most emphatic periods, yet the halo of fresh- 
ness still crowns his finished oratory, and the vigor of his 
arguments still thoroughly impresses the reader with his 
greatness of mind and the scope and breadth of his power 
of comprehension. 



176 Address of Mr. Ciil/oin on /he 

The works of Daniel Webster are among those which 
adorn the collection of American classics, and man}- of 
them would not suffer by comparison with the greatest 
orations delivered in the Roman senate. It might be an 
extravagance to say that Webster stood highest among 
the orators and thinkers of his day, but it is not too much 
to claim him as the equal of the greatest. And if the 
United States, like France, had possessed a Society of Im- 
mortals, a body in which the wondrous gifts of eloquence, 
forensic skill, statesmanship, and knowledge of law were 
among the requisites for the exalted membership, there, 
high upon the roll, would have been found the name of 
Webster. 

How apt and true were the words of Edward Everett in 
his address at Faneuil Hall in Boston upon the death of 
Webster! He said: 

There is but one voice that ever fell upon my ear which could do 
justice to such an occasion. That voice, alas! we shall hear no 
more forever. No more at the bar will it unfold the deepest myste- 
ries of the law; no more will it speak conviction to admiring Sena- 
tors; no more in this hall, the chosen theater of his intellectual 
dominion, will it lift the soul as with the swell of the pealing organ, 
or stir the blood with the tones of a clarion in the inmost chambers 
of the heart. 

Mr. President, the student of to-da>-, the teacher, the 
merchant, the farmer, the American citizen of whatever 
calling, would feel himself poor in knowledge and sadly 
equipped even for humble life not to know of the men 
upon whose brows the laurels of civic victories have been 
justly placed. 

Calhoun, Clay, and Webster, naming them in the 
order in which they were claimed by death, were, each in 



Acceptance of the Statue of Daniel U'cbstei: 177 

his sphere, the einbodiinent of tlie ideas, theories, and 
opinions entertained by his respective admirers and adlier- 
ents, and they composed a trinity of statesmen to which 
any land might look with pride. But Webster was the 
great leader, and was, as Rufus Choate once said: 

The last of that surpassing triumvirate; shall we say the greatest, 
the most widely known and admired of them all ? 

Mr. President, wdiile Webster was regarded in his day 
as the great exponnder of the Constitntion, he was also a 
great master of oratory. Tiiere are two kinds of oratory, 
differing widely in character and expression; oratory 
which sheds luster upon the orator, and oratory which stirs 
the minds and hearts of men to lofty aspirations and noble 
deeds. It is said that after Cicero had spoken the people 
exclaimed, "What a splendid orator is Cicero!" but when 
Demosthenes declaimed the cry arose, "Let us march 
against Philip!" 

The eloquence of Webster was of the Demosthenean 
t\pe. It stirred the hearts and inflamed the patriotism of 
his fellow-countrymen. Happily this great American 
master of oratory has left to us his own conception of 
what true eloquence is. It is found in his immortal 
oration at Faueuil Hall in commemoration of the lives and 
services of Adams and Jefferson, the two patriotic e.x- 
Presidents who died on the Fourth of July, 1826: 

Pure eloquence — 

Says he — 
does not consist in speech. It can not be brought from far; labor 
and learning may toil for it, but they will toil in vain. Words and 
phrases may be marshaled in every way, but they can not com- 
pass it. It must exist in tlie man, in the subject, and in the occa- 
12 s — w 



178 Address of Mr. Cullom on the 

sion. Affected passion, intense expression, the pomp of declamation, 
all may aspire to it; they can not reach it. It comes, if it comes at 
all, like the outbreaking of a fountain from the earth, or the bursting 
forth of volcanic fires with spontaneous original native force. The 
graces taught in the schools, the costly ornaments and studied con- 
trivances of speech, shock and disgust men when their own lives and 
the fate of their wives, their children, and their country hang on the 
decision of the hour. Their words have lost their power, rhetoric is 
vain, and all elaborate oratory contemptible. Even genius itself 
then feels rebuked and subdued as in the presence of higher quali- 
ties. Then patriotism is eloquent ; then self-devotion is eloquent. 
The clear conception outrunning the deductions of logic, the high 
purpose, the firm resolve, the dauntless spirit speaking on the tongue, 
beaming from the eye, informing every feature and urging the whole 
man onward, right onward to his object — this, this is eloquence, or 
rather it is something greater and higher than all eloquence: it is 
action, noble, sublime, godlike. 

No words of mine could possibh' convey the concep- 
tion of the eloquence of Danip:l Webster as do these 
grand words, which constitute at once an inspiration to 
patriotism and an ornament to English literature. His 
words have become to all generations a priceless inherit- 
ance. No statesman and orator of our country lias ever 
inculcated in the minds of his cotintr\nien a truer or more 
devoted Americanism. In one of his impassioned utter- 
ances, apparently carried away by his enthusiasm, he ex- 
claimed: 

America, America, our country, fellow-citizens; our own dear and 
native land ! 

How his soul would have abhorred that petty political 
doctrine of discontent which has been inculcated in this 
country in these latter years. One of the grandest tributes 
which he ever paid to his fellow-citizens of Massachusetts 
was the following: 



Acaplancc of the Statue of Daiiict ll'chstcr. 179 

You have conquered an inhospitable clime, you have conquered a 
barren soil, you have conquered the ocean which lashes your shores, 
and have made yourselves the glory and esteem of all the world. 

Webster reserved his greatest utterances for grand occa- 
sions and great inspiration. On one occasion, in referring 
to the affairs of Hungary, then in lier struggle for liberty, 
he said; 

I see that the Emperor of Russia demands of Turkey that the 
noble Kossuth and his companions shall be given up to be dealt 
with at his pleasure, and I see that this demand is made in derision 
of the established laws of nations. Gentlemen, there is something 
on earth greater than arbitrary or despotic power. The lightning 
has its power, the whirlwind has its power, and the earthquake has i's 
power, but there is something among men more cajjable of shaking 
despotic power than the lightning, the whirlwind, or the earthtpiake, 
and that is the e.xclted and aroused indignation of the whole civilized 
world. 

The story is told that before the great audience was 
aware of what was coming his majestic form began to 
tower, his eyes to kindle, and his voice caught the keynote 
of the vast building, till, in the illusion of the senses, the 
lightning flashed, and the whirlwind shook the place, and 
the firm foundation seemed to rock as with an earthquake. 
Such was the power of Daniel Webster as an orator. 

Mr. President, for centuries the relations between na- 
tions were largely determined in whispered conversations 
between statesmen and ambassadors. Whatever a states- 
man said, even in private, was treated as a public utterance, 
and nations were held responsible for remarks made by 
public men even in the social circle. If the representa- 
tives of one nation at the court of another were re- 
ceived with smiles, it was regarded as evidence of amity 
and good will, but if received with a frown, this was 



180 Address of Mr. CuUom on the 

regarded as evidence of hostility. If a sovereign turned 
his back upon an ambassador, this was regarded as almost 
a declaration of war, and dispatches were sent forthwith 
by flying couriers to all parts of the world. We may 
recall the history of that celebrated congress of nations 
which met at Ryswick, Holland, about 1697, to settle one 
of the most disastrous wars of that age. 

Almost every court in Europe sent its representatives, 
and the entire body spent months in determining how they 
were to meet, who should be entitled to precedence, and 
how many attendants each should have. Much time was 
spent in advancing toward each other at the place of 
meeting. No representative was willing to appear more 
anxious than the other, and the consequence was that as 
they advanced if one took a step more than another they 
all had to go back and begin over again ; and so they con- 
tinued in dancing a sort of minuet and counting the steps 
of each other. William III of England and Louis XIV 
of France each sent a trust\- representative to confer 
together by themselves. They met in an orchard, and 
while walking up and down for an hour or so these two 
practically settled the controversy and left the ambassadors 
to go on with their dance until they heard that the busi- 
ness was settled. 

In 1850, if I remember rightly, when Webster was Sec- 
retary of State, he made a speech at a dinner in Washington 
in which he commented bitterly on the conduct of Austria 
in the treatment of the Hungarian revolutionists. Baron 
Hulsemann was the Austrian ambassador to this Govern- 
ment. He immediately wrote the Secretary asking him 
what he meant by his speech, and in reply received an 
answer which deservedlv made a great noise in the world. 



Acceptance of the Statue of Daniel IWbster. 181 

With tlie utmost politeness Secretary Wekster substan- 
tiall}- told the Austrian ambassador to mind his own busi- 
ness, declaring that tlie purpose and intentions of the 
American Government were not to be learned from the pri- 
vate, unofficial remarks of anybody. He took the position 
that this country would speak to other countries officially, 
and by such communications alone this country should be 
pledged. This, I think, was a new departure in diplomacy, 
ahd struck a powerful blow at the old and childlike methods 
which had prevailed for centuries. 

It is just and proper that nations should communicate 
with each other in written words, leaving no uncertainty as 
to what is said or intended. It is remarkable that in 1880, 
while Mr. Gladstone was making a can\-ass for his election 
to Parliament, he reflected, in a public speech, on Austria, 
charging that nation with entertaining the deliberate pur- 
pose of violating treaty obligations. Mr. Gladstone was 
not then in office, but in a few weeks became prime minis- 
ter of England. The Austrian ambassador at once wrote 
to him asking what he meant by his recent speech. The 
Grand Old Man did not reply as Daniel Webster did. 
Reflecting on the matter, he finally, with that proud humil- 
ity which always characterized him, admitted that he was 
wrong. Webster pursued the more statesmanlike course. 
He struck at the old, childish methods of diplomatists, 
carried on by whispers and smiles and frowns and petty 
actions, which were not manly and were liable to be mis- 
understood. 

It is to be hoped that this (government will continue to 
follow the example of Webstek, and extend the practice 
of communicating with other nations in writing, so tha* 



182 Address of Mr. Citllom on the 

there can be no possible dispute as to what is said, and that 
the amenities of social intercourse shall not be held as 
meaning an^-thing whatever in diplomacy. 

Mr. President, I feel some pride in the fact that Daniel 
Webster, as early as 1837, when in the full tide of his 
manhood, impressed with the importance of the West, 
sought out and purchased a tract of land in my own State 
of Illinois, something like a thousand acres, not very far 
from my own home, where he contemplated the possibility 
of enjoying his later da}s when he should be relieved from 
public duties. In conversation he often referred to this 
investment, and in his will he refers especially to its 
disposition after his death. 

Daniel Webster, in all the relations of public life, was 
dignified and manly. His social intercourse with even his 
greatest political antagonists was sincere and enjoyable. 
The greatest possible admiration for each other existed 
between Webster and Calhoun, and the latter, feeble and 
broken, but a few days before his death almost risked his 
life to listen to a great speech of Webster in the Senate. 
Webster was generous and sympathetic, and although 
between him and Benton there had for some years existed 
a solid barrier over which neither would step, he brought 
about a reconciliation, and a perfect and happy fellowship 
thereafter existed between them. But to others more 
properly belongs the privilege of eulogy and praise, and to 
them I leave it. 

Mr. President, Senators, we to-day receive and accept 
from New Hampshire, the State which gave Daniel 
Webster to the country and to the world, the semblance 
of his commanding figure — 

In pallid marble fashioned. 



Acceptance of Ihe Statue of Daniel Webster. 183 

His statue is to take its place in the appropriate hall 
yonder, amid that noble group of noble men, where his 
sculptured form may claim just fellowship with all. In 
such association may we not imagine that the enduring 
stone shall for a time stand forth clothed anew with life, 
endowed with the divine adornments of humanity, and be 
given voice to speak immortal words to the wondrous 
audience in that great chamber of patriots and heroes ? 
Let the imagination go further, and show to us Washington, 
and Lincoln, and Adams, and all the illustrious company, 
once more sentient with life, and stepping down from their 
pedestals to hail and join each other in a great chorus of 
joy over the stability of the Government which their great 
minds had conceived and their earnest hands builded and 
maintained. And then, when silence reigns, following the 
final invocation and dedication, the oration, an oration from 
the godlike Webster, shall close and terminate forever this 
imaginary quickening into life, upon which each marble 
form will resume its place, inanimate, eternal, glorious. 



184 Address of Mr. Milchcll on the 



Address of Mr. Mitchell, of Oregon. 

Mr. President: After the many able and interesting 
speeches to which we have listened, any words of mine would 
seem to be a superfluity, and nothing but the honor done 
the State I in part represent here, by the invitation from 
the distinguished Senators from New Hampshire that I 
should say something, would induce me at this late hour 
to trespass on the patience of the Senate. 

Seldom is it that the Senate of the United States is 
privileged to participate in a ceremonial like the present; 
infrequent that any State in the Union is permitted to 
enjoy the distinguished honor which the State and people 
of New Hampshire enjoy to-day. That New Hampshire 
should have been the birthplace of Daxiel Webster is 
an honor of much more than ordinary distinction, and one 
of which the State may well be proud. 

Forty-two years ago the morning of the 24th of October 
last the great heart of Daniel Webster performed its 
final office, gave its parting throb, and a great man died. 
Then it was that the tomb uncovered to welcome to its 
shades America's intellectual giant, one among that class 
of gTeat men of this and other ages endowed with extraor- 
dinary discursive faculties. Then one of the ablest, if not 
indeed the ablest, interpreter of the Constitution and one 
of the most stalwart champions of constitutional govern- 
ment surrendered his life to Him who gave it. Then the 
bar, not only of the State of his birth and the State of his 
adoption but of the United States, was deprived ol one 



Acceptance of the Statue of Daniel Webster. 185 

of its most conspicuous and shining ornaments. Then the 
Nation, represented by all the people, following the decla- 
ration of the immortal Dryden, said: "I will myself be the 
chief mourner at his obsequies," and stood with uncovered 
head before the waiting tomb, in obeisance to the name 
and memory of one whose public services had been of the 
very highest order and of inestimable value to the state. 

Having lived in a generation that has passed away, we 
can only see him in the light of history; but viewed in 
that light we behold in him the greatest of all the great 
expounders of the Constitution, if we may indeed except 
perhaps the late Chief Justice Marshall; abreast of the 
foremost in rank of the great lawyers of his time, second 
perhaps to none, but excelling all in solid ability, depth 
and breadth of thought, and in power of demonstration, 
among the entire list of .\nierican statesmen. Peerless in 
mentality, gifted in prescience, thoroughly instructed in 
historical and governmental literature, endowed with 
extraordinary oratorical powers, he was surpassed in these 
respects by none of his day and generation, and only 
equaled by the most intellectual and accomplished of either 
ancient or modern times. 

Webster was a human prodigy, a unique intellectual 
entit\-. He towered above his fellows in his lines of supe- 
riority like Napoleon in France, Bismarck in Germany, 
Gladstone in England, in their respective traits of greatness. 
The light of his marvelous mind did not "shine eccentric, 
like a comet's blaze," but clear and steady, like the sun in 
his splendor when it " shines serenely bright." 

That he was endowed by nature with rare gifts, all will 
agree. That he was a patriot in the grandest and loftiest 



186 Address of Mr. Mitchell on the 

sense of that term, none will deny. That as a logician, 
statesman, orator, he ranked inferior to none among the 
logicians, statesmen, and orators, not only of the times in 
which he lived but of any period, bnt was superior to 
most, there are few to dispute. 

To Webster more than to any other American is due 
the credit of infusing into the American mind and crystal- 
lizing in the American conscience a correct, interpretation 
of the Constitution. Fortunate for his country, he lived 
at a time when his commanding presence, his great intel- 
lect, his legal learning, his acknowledged familiarity with 
constitutional law, his remarkable oratorical powers, his 
grand patriotism, his wide influence, all combined to equip 
him to correctly interpret the fundamental law under 
which we live in respect of the relation existing between 
the National Government and the States respectively, and 
in respect of the jurisdiction and powers of each. 

That the interpretation which he placed on the Consti- 
tution in these respects has stood the test not only of the 
most able criticisms of lawyers eminent in their profession 
as constitutional and statutory constructionists, but of the 
more trying ordeal of the conflict of arms, is of itself a 
monument of commendation to his .sagacity, his great 
ability, his legal learning, his constitutional knowledge, 
his proficiency as a dialectician, his patriotism. 

The inspiration of his matchless speeches in support of 
the integrity of the Constitution and the Union, and in 
opposition to a vicious construction of the fundamental 
law sought by some to be ingrafted on that great instru- 
ment, infused patriotism into the minds and hearts of a 
million men and prompted them to the rescue when thirty 



Acceptance of lite Slnliie of Daniel U'ehs/er. 1S7 

years or more later that iute<4rit>- was assailed by force of 
arms. 

That Daniel WebsteR was in respect of rare intellec- 
tual powers unexcelled, if indeed equaled, by any Amer- 
ican logician or statesman that has ever lived, may well 
be questioned. That he was not as brilliant, or as thor- 
oughly accomplished in classical literature, or perhaps 
not as well grounded in the law as a few others, are also 
facts recognized by history. 

In the generation in which Webster lived there were 
many men of great aptitude and power, of distinguished 
lineage, of great learning, of incomparable capacity as law- 
yers, logicians, orators, and statesmen; but among all these 
looms up in history the great, the immortal Webster, as 
has been stated of Napoleon, "grand, gloomy, and pecu- 
liar," endowed with those superb and varied intellectual 
qualities which united in making him but little less, if at 
all, than the peer of any of them in every one of these rare 
endowments and attainments, and preeminent in respect to 
most of them. 

The names of many men of ability, of genius, of power, 
who lived in the generation in which W^EBster lived; 
the names of illustrious lawyers, statesmen, logicians, con- 
temporary with him, may, and doubtless will, as time shall 
complete its coming cycles, fade away and be forever 
forgotten in the history yet to be written, when the name 
of Webster will in that same history be remembered 
with pride, and the light of his undying fame as states- 
man, orator, logician, patriot, will shed unfading luster 
upon its pages. 

Although he was denied that prestige and eminence 



188 Address of Mr. Mitchell on the 

which attach to those upon whom has been conferred the 
highest honor the Republic can bestow on any of its citi- 
zens, yet the names of many of those so honored will be less 
conspicuous in future history than that of Webster. 

That he was as great a jurist as John Marshall, or 
Jeremiah Mason, or Pinckney, I do not believe. That he 
was not naturally as oratorically brilliant as Henry Clay, 
in the common acceptance of that term, must, I think, be 
conceded; but that he was greater than all these in solidity 
of intellect, breadth, depth, and expansion of mind, and 
in capacity and power to grasp, unfold, elucidate, demon- 
strate, and make clear and plain to all, great, intricate, 
fundamental governmental questions, there can be no 
room for doubt. 

That Daniel Webster, forty years after he had lived 
and died, having such contemporaries as Clay, Calhoun, 
Hayne, Everett, Choate, and many more scarcely less illus- 
trious, and after having been followed since then b>- such 
accomplished orators and statesmen as Sumner, Seward, 
Conkling, Carpenter, Blaine, Douglas, and Lincoln, who 
have in their respective spheres shed the unfading glory of 
their eloquence on the pages of our history, adorned them 
with the elegance of their erudition, and garnished them 
with the beauty of their matchless diction, should have 
been characterized in the cyclopedia of universal history 
as "the greatest master of American oratory" is of itself a 
tribute to his name and memory in that regard of unexcep- 
tionable character. 

Whether Webster was really the most gifted and thor- 
oughly equipped lawyer of his time has been a question of 
serious disputation among lawyers of high rank. The late 



Acceptance of the S/a/ue of Daniel H'ebstcr. 189 

Senator Carpenter, of Wisconsin, acknowledged by all as 
standing in his tinre in the front rank of the American bar, 
gave Choate the preference. In Neilson's Memoirs of 
Rnfus Choate, Mr. Carpenter, in his contribntion, says: 

He (Choate) always .stood in awe of Weuster, and spent nights 
in preparation when about to contend with him at the bar. This I 
never could understand. As a mere lawyer I think Choate as much 
the superior of Webster as Wkbster was the superior of lawyers 
generally. 

Possibly the fact that Choate was Carpenter's tntor when 
he studied law may, to some extent, have warped his judg- 
ment. However, all agree that Rufus Choate was one of 
the most gifted and accomplished lawyers the American bar 
has ever known. 

Daniel Web.ster was, in the opinion of General 
Butler— 

the foremost lawyer of Massacliusetts, as well as the foremost lawyer 
of the country. 

The two most distinguished lawyers of the New Hamp- 
shire bar in Webster's earlier practice were Jeremiah 
Mason and Jeremiah Smith, both eminent in their profes- 
sion, the latter being the chief justice of the State. As 
mere lawyers they were, I believe, almost universally 
regarded as Webster's equals in legal attainments, and by 
many as his superiors. Later on, in his professional career 
in the city of Boston, when but thirty-five years of age he 
crossed legal swords with such distinguished lawyers as 
Dexter, Story, Shaw, Prescott, Otis, and others, all then 
men of national reputation in their profession. .\nd in 
legal contests with them he won unfading laurels. In his 
more advanced life, when the cares of state enveloped him 



190 Address of Mr. Mitchell on the 

as with a cloud, lie, at intervals, in the Supreme Court of 
the United States, added additional jewels to a professional 
wreath of fame already lustrous in its brilliancy by his 
legal battles with Pinckney, and Wirt, and Johnson, and 
Seward, and Holmes, and other men of like world-wide 
reputation as lawyers. 

His matchless and successful constitutional argument in 
the Supreme Court of the United States in the Dartmouth 
College case, in 1818, when but thirty-six years of age, and 
his equally great though unsuccessful effort in the Girard 
will case in the same court twenty-six years later, in 1844, 
were, by the concurrent historic testimony- of bench and 
bar, forensic efforts characterized b\- great knowledge of 
constitutional and statutory law, by irrefutable logic, by 
clearness and power of elucidation and demonstration, and 
by impressive and impassioned jurisprudential oratory, un- 
surpassed by any ever heard in that august tribunal either 
before or since. 

Hilliard, in speaking of Webster's argument in the 
Dartmouth College case, says: 

No better argument has been spoken in the EngHsh tongue in, the 
memory of any living man, nor is the child that is born to-dav likely 
to live to hear a better. Its learning is ample, but not ostentatious; 
its logic irresistible ; its eloquence vigorous and lofty. 

While Justice Stor\', then a member of the court, is 
reported by the same historian as saying, in speaking of it: 

For the first hour we listened to him with perfect astonishment; 
for the second hour with perfect delight; for the third hour with 
perfect conviction. 

Mr. Hilliard thus estimates him as a law\'er: 
Of his eminence in the law, meaning the law as administered in 
the ordinary tribunals of the country, without reference for tlie 



Acceptance of the Statue of Daniel Webster. 191 

present to constitutional questions, there is but one opinion among 
competent judges. Some may have excelled him in a single faculty 
or accomplishment; but in the combination of qualities which tlie 
law requires no man of his time was, on the whole, equal to him. 

Air. Charles Launiau, long his private secretary- during 
the later years of his life, in the "preliminary note" to a 
little volume ptihlished in this city the month succeeding 
Mr. Webster's death, entitled " Private Life of Daniel 
Webster," pays him this higli tribute: 

His fame as a patriot, a jurist, a statesman, an orator, .iiid ,i 
scholar is coextensive with the civilized world 

Mr. Hiram Ketchum, in his eloquent address to the bar 
of Xew York City on the death of Webster, said: 

The great luminary of the bar, the Senate, and the council 
chamber is set forever, but it is a subject of rejoicing that it is set in 
almost supernatural splendor, obscured by no cloud; not a ray 
darkened. 

Mr. Webster was a master of the English language — the 
good, old-fashioned Anglo-Saxon kind. In his demon- 
stration of intricate political problems, in his grand efforts 
at the bar, as well also as in his marvelous literar)- addresses, 
there is no trace of ''cireiiitus rerbontni,'' nothing peri- 
phrastic; while, upon the other hand, he could never have 
truthfully said of himself, "-brevis esse laboro, obscnnis 
fo'' — in endeavoring to be concise, I become obscure — but 
yet he was brilliant. Milton, on the great handiwork of 
Him who is greater than all, says: 

He sow'd with stars the heav'n. 

So this master mind on great occasions bedecked and 
beautified the literary, the professional, the national firma- 
ments with jewels as rare, as matchless in beauty and 



192 Address of Mr. Mitclull ou the 

expression, as were ever coined by human speech or fell 
from mortal tongue: 

In Webster's more conspicuous oratorical efforts were 
unified the various arts of directness, dignity, pertinency, 
condensation, energy, persuasiveness, grace, and power. 
Lacking, perhaps, somewhat in brilliancy those of Clay, in 
erudition those of Everett or Sumner, he excelled them all 
in irrefragible logic, in solid ability, and in power of dem- 
onstration. 

Macaulay, in speaking of Goldsmith, .said: 

He was a great and perhaps an unequaled master of the arts of 
selection and condensation. 

Among the statesinen of America Webster in this 
respect perhaps had no superior and but one equal. Abra- 
ham Lincoln was the peer of any American that ever lived 
in respect of endowment of these peculiar, rare, and attract- 
ive qualities of mind. 

One of Webster's most gifted contemporaries and 
eulogists said of him: 

More than any living man he has instructed the whole generation 
of .\merican citizens in their political duties, and taught the young 
men of the country how to think clearly, reason fairly, and clothe 
thought in the most simple and beautiful English. 

What more exalted passage can be found in the world's 
eloquent literature than Webster's closing words in that 
memorable address on the settlement of New England, 
delivered at Plymouth, December 22, 1820, when, rising 
even superior to himself, with a beckoning smile, casting 
his eyes through the vanishing twilight as it gradually 
receded before the dawn of approaching years, and speaking 
as thou'^h inspired, he extended a cordial welcome to the 



Acceptance of the Statue of Daniel Webster. 193 

advancing generations of the futnre in these suljlime 
words: 

Advance, then, ye future generations! ^Ve would hail you as you 
rise in your long succession to till the places which we now fill and 
to taste the blessings of existence, where we are passing, and soon 
shall have passed, our own human duration. We bid you welcome 
to this pleasant land of the fathers. We bid you welcome to the 
healthful skies and verdant fields of New England. We greet your 
accession to the great inheritance which we have enjoyed. We wel- 
come you to the blessings of good government and religious 
liberty. We welcome you to the treasures of science and the 
delights of learning. We welcome you to the transcendent sweets 
of domestic life, to the happiness of kindred, and parents, and 
children. We welcome you to the immeasurable blessings of 
rational existence, the immortal hope of Christianity, and the light 
of everlasting life. 

Or M'here else m all the choicest national panegyrics 
with which the altar of any nation was ever decorated; 
where among all the beautiful creations with which the 
name and faine of nations have been forever embalmed in 
human speech; where in the most classic written history 
or in the most erudite national essays of either ancient or 
modern times, is to be found a passage surpassing in 
elegance of diction, in sublime pathos, in superb grandeur, 
in matchless eloquence, that of the closing sentences of 
Webster's reply to Hayne: 

When my eyes shall be turned to behold for the last time the sun 
in heaven, may 1 not see him shining on the broken and dishonored 
fragments of a once glorious Union; on States dissevered, discordant, 
belligerent; on a land rent with civil feuds, or drenched, it may be, 
in fraternal blood! Let their last feeble and lingering glance, 
rather, behold the gorgeous ensign of the Republic, now known and 
honored throughout the earth, still full high advanced, its arms and 
trophies streaming in their original luster, not a stripe erased or 
polluted, noi a single star obscured — bearing for its motto no such 
13 s— w 



194 Address of Mr. Mitchell on the 

miserable interrogatory as, What is all this worth ? nor those otiier 
words of delusion and folly, Liberty first, and Union aftenoards ; but 
everywhere, spread all over in characters of living light, blazing 
on all its ample folds, as they float over the sea and over the land 
and in every wind under the whole heavens, that other sentiment, 
dear to every true American heart — Liberty and Union, now and- 
forever, one and inseparable! 

His oration of December 22, 1820, at Plynioiith, on the 
bicentennial anniversary of the landing of the Pilgrims; 
that of June 17, 1825, at the laying of the corner stone of 
the Bunker Hill Monument; on the 17th of June, 1S43, ^'^ 
its completion; on August 2, 1826, in Faneuil Hall, com- 
memorative of the lives and services of John Adams and 
Thomas JefTerson, two signers of the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence, and each an ex-President of the United States, 
and who had, on our national anniversary, died within a 
few hours of each other; his oration in this city in 1832 at 
the services commemoratory of the birth of George Wash- 
ington; his eulogies on Mason and Story, on Calhoun and 
Taylor; his grand constitutional arguments in the judicial 
courts of the country; his able and patriotic speeches in 
the two Houses of Congress on an infinite variety of 
topics — on finance, on our foreign relations, on commerce, 
foreign and domestic, on naturalization and bankruptcy, 
on the Mexican war, on the Texan question, on the exclu- 
sion of slavery from the Territories, his reply to Hayne, 
and various other notable speeches; and finalh- liis last 
national address, delivered on the 4th da>- of July, 1851, 
at the laying of the corner stone of the addition to the 
Capitol of the United States — will all forever live on his- 
tory's brightest pages, embellishing them with their beauty 
and embalming them with their fragrance, as specimens of 



Aciiptancc of the Statue of Daniel Webster. liJo 

erudite, captivating, chaste oratory, unexcelled by that of 
any country or of any aj^e. 

And although the luster reflected on his name by these 
great arguments and orations, and the fame which his half 
a centur\- of highly distinguished professional life and his 
thirty \ears of invaluable service to the State, had made 
him conspicuous in the history of his time as lawyer, 
statesman, orator, had secured for him the unstinted admi- 
ration and seemingly the unfading gratitude of his coun- 
tr\ men, yet some would have us believe, even at this late 
da\-, that this grand monument which he had builded to 
himself was, in the gathering shades of a waning life, shat- 
tered and destroyed by a single destructive blow wielded 
by the arm of its own great builder. They would have us 
believe that his speech in this body of ]\Iarch 7, 1850, prac- 
tical!}' confirmed by that of June 17, 1S50, and the senti- 
ments of which were substantially repeated in his speech 
on the compromise bill, July 17, 1850, had wrested immor- 
tality from a name otherwise immortal, and that by this 
one act the glory thence hitherto attaching to his name 
had departed forever. 

True it is, there is some room for criticism, and ap- 
parent grounds for insistence that the opinions of Mr. 
Webster on the subject of slavery in the Territories, as 
shown by these speeches, had undergone a change from 
those held b\- him in former years, and so \-igorously 
asserted and ably and patriotically maintained in his 
speech in relation to the exclusion of slavery from the Ter- 
ritories delivered August 12, 1848, on the bill to organize 
a government for the Territory of Oregon, and in many 
former speeches. 



196 Address of Mr. Mitchell on /he 

In that of August 12, 1848, Mr. Webster made the fol- 
lowing declaration: 

My objection to slavery is irrespective of lines and points of lati- 
tude; it takes in the whole country and the whole question. I am 
opposed to it in every shape and in every qualification, and am 
against any compromise of the question. * * * j ^yji] never 
vote to extend the area of slavery. 

And again in the same debate he said: 

I shall consent to no extension of the area of slavery upon this 
continent, nor to any increase of slave representation in the other 
House of Congress. 

This, however, was but a repetition of raatiy of his pre- 
vious declarations on the same subject. 

His subsequent opposition, however, to the Wilmot pro- 
viso and his support of the Soule amendment present an 
apparent inconsistency with his previous record. But 
■when viewed in the light of his vigorous and persistent 
•contention that there were natural, and to his mind conclu- 
sive, existent reasons and causes sufficient to forever ex- 
clude African slavery from the Territories, to which this 
proviso and this amendment were intended to apply; that 
their assertion was unnecessary to prevent the introduction 
of slavery into those Territories, and would do no good, but 
on the contrary, in his judgment, be a source of humilia- 
tion and irritation to the people of the South, are we not 
bound to accord to him honorable motives and consistency 
of action in this regard, even though we are unable to 
accept his assumptions and arguments as valid? And this 
is the conclusion I long since reached in regard to this 
whole matter. 

And though Whittier may have written his "Ichabod," 
and though the poetic beauty and power of that lyric dirge 



Acceptance of the Statue of Daniel Webster. H)7 

and tlie honest criticisms of patriotic men, coupled witli 
the h\-percriticisms of an unjust and carping world, uk\\ 
for a time have cast a shadow over a planet of the first 
magnitude, may have partially obscured for a brief period 
the splendor of its former glory, I, while not indorsing 
some of the sentiments and expressions it contains, am 
not of those who can in that speech, by any fair construc- 
tion of which it is susceptible, taken as a whole and inter- 
preted as it should be in the light of the accompanying 
assumptions and arguments, see any justifiable cause for 
detracting from or for casting any just reflection on the 
name or fame of Daniel Webster. But, on the con- 
trary, I see in the ceremonials of this hour impartial his- 
tory to-day rising in its majesty above the clamor of the 
discordant elements of those times, and, wielding the pen 
of justice, rejecting the insinuations of "Ichabod," as its 
distinguished author himself in a great measure rejected 
them before his death, and the name and fame of Web- 
ster, notwithstanding this speech, shining again serenely 
in the firmament of our nation's history. 

If the sentiments expressed in that speech on the subject 
of slavery as it then existed in this countr)- must be re- 
garded as a cloud upon an otherwise immortal name, then 
with much more force might it be justly held that the acts 
on that subject of the great men who framed our Consti- 
tution in giving slavery recognition should consign their 
names to lasting infamy. 

Webster in that speech but dealt historically with the 
subject of slavery as it existed from the earliest history of 
the world, and as it then existed in the United States — in 
virtue of the fact that tiie convictions of the fathers on that 



198 Address of Mr. MUcltcll on the 

subject, that is, as to the best mode of dealing with what 
they all then regarded as a great evil, had caused them to 
recognize it in the fundamental law of the land. The 
same course of reasoning by which WEBSTER is condemned 
for the sentiments contained in that speech would tarnish 
the names of the thirteen Northern Senators, including 
those of John A. Dix and Daniel S. Dickinson, of New 
York; Levi Woodbury and Charles G. Atherton, of New 
Hampshire; John M. Niles, of Connecticut; John Fairfield, 
of Maine; James Buchanan and Daniel Sturgeon, of Penn- 
sylvania, and Benjamin Tappan and William Allen, of Ohio, 
all of whom voted for the admission of Texas into the 
Union as a slave State, with a provision attached making 
it possible for four more slave States to be carved out of it. 

Webster's public life presents overwhelming evidence 
of the fact that he was unalterably opposed to the exten- 
sion of African slavery into the Territories of the United 
States. 

The sentiment of the South in regard to slavery had 
materially changed from that held by the framers of the 
Constitution. When the Constitution was framed, its 
authors had declared without dissent or qualification that 
slavery was an evil, moral and political, but they recog- 
nized its existence in the fundamental law; whereas, in 
1848, John C. Calhoun, the great Southern leader, the 
master mind of the South", the great exponent of Southern 
sentiment, in his place in the Senate on August 10, on the 
bill providing a Territorial government for Oregon, made 
this startling declaration : 

Slavery has benefited all mankind, all countries but the South. 
Slavery, like the waters of the Nile, has spread its fertilizing influ- 
ence over all the world. 



Acceptance of the Statue of Daniel Webster. 199 

Webster, therefore, with other Northern statesmen of 
his time, was brought face to face with a great controversy 
that threatened the dissohition of the Union. He had to 
contend with a changed sentiment, a hostile and ibrmida- 
ble power in the South, and in his intense desire to prevent' 
secession and a bloody war and to preserve the Union 
intact he compromised in speech and act to an extent that 
brought upon him the condemnation of many well-mean- 
ing men. 

The great purpose, it seems to me, of ;\Ir. Webster's 
speech of ]\Iarch 7, 1850, was the preservation of the 
Union. He seemed to be impressed for years with an ap- 
prehension that an attempt to dissolve the Union peaceably 
might be made, and that such an experiment would in his 
judgment surely result in bringing on a bloody and destruc- 
tive war, and in that very speech he uttered these remark- 
able and prophetic words: 

Mr. President, I should prefer to have heard from every membet 
on this floor declarations of opinion that this Union could never be 
dissolved than the declaration of opinion that in any case, under the 
pressure of any circumstances, such a dissolution was possible. We 
hear with distress and anxiety the word "secession," especially when 
it falls from the lips of those who are patriodc and known to the 
country and known all over the world for their political services. 
Secession! Secession! Peaceable secession ! Sir, your eyes and mine 
are never destined to see that miracle. The dismemberment of this 
vast country without convulsion ! The breaking up of the foun- 
tains of the great deep without ruffling the surface! Who is so 
foolish, I beg everybody's pardon, as to e.xpect to see any such thing! 

Sir, he who sees these States, now revolving in harmony around a 
common center, and expects to see them quit their places and fly off 
without convulsion, may look the next hour to see the heavenly 
bodies rush from their spheres and jostle against each other in the 
realms of space without causing the wreck of the universe. There 



200 Address of Mr. Mitchell on the 

can be no such thing as peaceable secession. Peaceable secession is 
an utter impossibility. Is the great Constitution under which we 
live, covering the whole country, to be thawed and melted away by 
secession as the snows on the mountain m^lt under the influence of 
the vernal sun, disappear almost unobserved, and run off? No, sir! 
No, sir! I will not state what might produce the disruption of the 
Union; but, sir, I see as plainly as I see the sun in heaven what that 
disruption must produce. I see that it must produce war, and such 
a war as I will not describe in its twofold character. 

Some men accounted great rise above their fellows in 
but a single department or line of professional, scientific, 
or public life — some as lawyers at the bar, others as states- 
men in the halls of legislation, while others excel only in 
the more intricate fields of diplomacy. Webster excelled 

in all. 

Excelling others, these were great ; 
Thou, greater still, must these excel. 

This master mind left the lasting impress of its great- 
ness not only on the records of his profession as a lawyer 
and on the journals of both branches of Congress, but on the 
diplomatic pages of his cotintry's history. The historian 
tells us his diplomatic discussion with Lord Ashburton, 
which led to the adoption of the Webster-Ashburton treaty, 
resulting in the final settlement of the disturbing contro- 
versy relative to the northeastern boundary of the United 
States, was, to use the language of the historic writer, "as 
able as were the questions involved intricate." 

True it is, althotigh the treaty settled a controversy 
that had existed and been a source of aggravating irritation 
between this country and Great Britain from the date of 
the treaty of peace in 1783, a period of nearly sixty years, 
and although after long and able discussion in this body it 
had received five-sixths of all the votes of the Senate in 



Acceptance of the Statue of Daniel J I 'ebster. 201 
<s. 
favor of its ratification, it was subsequently bitterly 

assailed here and in the House of Representatives and 
elsewhere, notably by Senators Dix and Dickinson, of 
New York, in the Senate, and Ingersoll, of Pennsylvania, 
in the House, and Mr. WebsteR, as one of its authors, 
was severely arraigned on the alleged grounds — 

First. For its unconstitutional surrender, as claimed, of 
a portion of the State of Maine and certain strategic mili- 
tary points; 

Second. Because of the mode in which the subject of 
the search of vessels suspected of being engaged in the 
slave trade on the coast of Africa was disposed of; and 

Third. Because it was insisted no proper redress had 
been obtained for the violation of the territorial rights of 
the United States in the destruction of the steamboat 
Caroline in the harbor of Schlosser by a British force in 
December, 1837, and which subsequently led to the arrest 
of one Alexander McLeod, a British subject, composing 
part of the force, by the authorities of the State of New 
York, for an alleged murder committed b\' him on that 
occasion. 

But air these objections are to m\- mind completely 
answered and absolutely overthrown by Mr. Webster 
himself in his two-days speech in this body in defense of 
that treaty, April 6 and 7, 1846. In that great speech 
Mr. Webster demonstrated beyond all question the just- 
ness of the appeal contained in its closing sentences, when 
in concluding he said: 

i am willing to appeal to tlie public men of the age whetlier, in 
1842 and in the city of Washington, something was not done for the 
suppression of crime, for tlie true exposition of the prmciples of pub- 
lic law, for the freedom and security of commerce on the ocean, and 
for tlie i)eace of the world. 



202 Address of Mr. Mitchell on the 

Were I disposed, or if proper on this occasion, to in- 
dulge in criticism, the one thing in Mr. Webster's public 
career, as I understand it, with which I should find most 
fault was his attitude on the Oregon question. 

Mr. Webster, I regret, did not estimate Oregon Terri- 
tory at its true merit. He did not seem to comprehend its 
importance as an integral part of the Republic, either in a 
domestic or an international sense, and he failed utterly 
and absolutely to properly assert and defend our rights to 
that Territory, either as Senator or as Secretary of State. 
He was indisposed always to give any countenance whatever 
to our claim to territory farther north than the forty-ninth 
parallel. And when President Polk, in his message in 
1845, declared that, in his judgment, our title to the whole 
of the country — that is, to fifty-four degrees forty minutes — 
was "clear and unquestionable," Mr. Webster, in his 
place in the Senate, not only took issue, but insisted we 
had no claim whatever, nothing to arbitrate or settle, be- 
yond the forty-ninth parallel. He insisted this boundary 
had been established by the treaty of Utrecht and assented 
to by the people of the United States. But not only so; 
he left even our rights to the south of the line in doubt, 
and suggested that should the forty-ninth parallel be recog- 
nized there would still be left open for negotiation, arbitra- 
tion, and settlement the right of Great Britain to the use, 
either permanently or for a term of years, of the Columbia 
River, and also, to use his own language, "in regard to all 
that respects straits and sounds and islands in the neighbor- 
ing seas," referring evidently to the Strait of San Juan de 
Fuca and the waters and islands of Puget Sound. 

It is not general!)- believed that Mr. WEBSTER in dealing 



Acceptance of the Statue of Daniel Webster. 203 

with the Oregon question either exhibited that knowledge 
cff facts or the possession of that faculty of prescience gen- 
erally so characteristic of and attributed to him. This is 
clearly indicated by a remark in his speech in the Senate 
of April 6 and 7, 1846, in defense of the Treaty of Wash- 
ington. In that treaty our right to float logs down the 
river St. Johns, through the province of New Brunswick, 
to the Bay of Fundy had been secured, and Mr. Webster, 
in referring to what he regarded as its immense value, said: 

We have heard a vast deal lately of the immense value and im- 
portance of the river Columbia and its navigation, but I will under- 
take to say that for all purposes of human use the river St. Johns is 
worth a himdred times as much as the Columbia is or ever will be. 
* * * It (the St. Johns) is navigable from the sea and by steam- 
boats a greater distance than the Columbia. 

The naked fact is, Mr. President, the river St. Johns was 
not then, is not now, and never will be, for any consider- 
able distance, more than a highway for rafts of logs from 
the forests of Maine and New Brunswick to the city of 
St. Johns and the Bay of Fundy. And the statement of Mr. 
Webster, it is submitted, was not warranted by the then 
existing facts, nor has it ever been confirmed, and never 
will be, by subsequent history. The vast commerce borne 
to-day upon the waters of the Columbia River and the im- 
measurable possibilities as to the future, which all now 
concede, present conclusive evidence as to how very much 
at times even the greatest of public men may be mistaken. 

That Daniel Webster, great as he was, had his weak- 
nesses and failings, as ever}' mortal man, however great or 
good he may be, has in greater or less degree, no one will 
controvert. But that these, unlike the weaknesses and 
failings of those less conspicuous, in either private or 



204 Address of Mr. Mitchell on the 

public life, were greatly exaggeiated, truthful history at- 
tests. One of his contemporaries, eminent in his time, in 
an eloquent eulogium delivered at his death, in delicately 
referring to this aspect of the great statesman's life, and 
after premising it with a declaration that it was due to 
truth and sound morality to say that no public services, no 
eminent talent, can or should sanctify errors, said; 

To say that he had no weaknesses and failings would be to say 
that he was not human. These failings have been published to the 
world, and his friends would have no reason to complain of that if 
they had not been exaggerated. 

And after further stating that he had a close personal 
intimacy with Mr. Webster in private and domestic life 
for a period of over twenty-five years, and had during that 
time received numerous letters from him, he said : 

I have had the pleasure of meeting him often in private circles 
and at the festive board where some of our sessions were not short, 
but neither in his letters nor conversation have I ever known him to 
express an impure thought, an immoral sentiment, or use profane 
language. Neither in writing nor in conversation have I everknown 
him to assail any man. No man, in my hearing, was ever slandered 
or spoken ill of by Daniel Webster. Never in my life have I known 
a man whose conversation was uniformly so unexceptionable in tone 
and edifying in character. No man had more tenderness of feeling 
than D.\NiEL Webster. 

On this sairie occasion J. Prescott Hall pronounced a 
eulogy, in which, among other things, he said: 

I have partaken of his innocent and manly amusements; I hive 
walked with him at twilight upon the shore of the "far-resounding 
sea;" I have seen him in the forum and the Senate Chamber, his 
gigantic intellect towering above ail his compeers, and under no cir- 
cumstances and on no occasion did I ever know him to forget his 
own dignity or cease to impress, if not overwhelm, with the sense of 



Acceptance of the Statue of Daniel J I 'ebstcr. 205 

his surpassing greatness. From his lips I never heard an irreverent, 
a profane, or an unseemly expression, while his playful wit, his deep 
philosophy, his varied acquirements, and unrivaled powers of conver- 
sation are among the choicest treasures of my recollection. 

One writer truthfully says: 

Many take pleaure in S|)eaking about the weaknesses of an 
exalted character. 

That Webster was, in a measure, incautious, perhaps 
to an extent improvident, in personal monetary matters, 
seems to be conceded. This failing, however, it is not 
believed was the result of any lack of personal integrity, 
bi;t rather of indifference as to his own indi\idual neces- 
sities and comforts, present and future, coupled, doubtless, 
in a great measure with the fact that his life, professionally 
and as a pttblic man, was devoted to a service the least of 
the purposes of which was that of getting money, much 
less getting rich. 

While, therefore, we would reject the Shakespearea-n 
philosophy suggested in the phrase — 

Condemn the fault and not the actor of it ? 
Why, every fault's condemned ere it be done — 

but rather remembering the beautiful sentiment of 

Moore — 

As sunshine broken in the rill. 

Though turned astray, is sunshine still — 

may it not be said, and truly and justly said, now that the 
rains of forty-two summers and the driving snows of as 
many winters have beat upon the tomb of the great 
departed and we come to-da>- to Ijear fitting testimony to 
his name and memory by placing in the Statuary Hall of 
this great Capitol his marble bust, there to remain while 
this proud edifice shall stand, that the delinqtiencies of 



206 Address of Mr. Mitchell on the 

Daniel Webster, if any, whatever they may have been, 
whether moral or political, whether venial or otherwise, 
have, by common consent, by universal acquiescence, in 
the light of his grand intellectual powers, which none can 
dispute, which all must acknowledge, and in view of his 
great public service to the State which entitles him to 
universal commendation, been condoned? 

The Senate of the United States to-day pauses in its de- 
liberations and does honor to Daniel Webster, a former 
member of this body, distinguished, illustrious, preeminent 
among the men of his time. And in the Statuary Hall of 
this great Capitol, by common consent of the people and 
government of the State, of his nativity, of the people of 
the State of his adoption, and of the Government and 
people of the United States, he takes his place among those 
who are deemed fit to stand in silent representation in that 
historic presence. 
* And when we, the representatives in this Chamber to- 
da\' of foiFty-four sovereign States, composing a nation the 
greatest, the grandest on the face of the earth, shall have 
passed away, when our names, or at least the names of 
most of us, shall be no longer remembered among men, 
the name of WEBSTER will live in history, and will reflect 
unfading glory on the pages of the future historian. 

And when generations yet unborn shall walk through 
these historic halls, and shall pause as the\- come and go 
in yonder part of this great edifice, to look upon the 
speechless marble representations of the great men of this 
and former times, they will, in contemplating in the light 
of faithful and accurate history the lives and characters of 
the men there represented, without hesitation and with 



Acceptance of the Statue of Daniel U 'ebsler. 207 

common consent accord to Webster a place first among 
the great intellects of departed statesmen. Of course, ris- 
ing above him in other and different attribntes and in 
political and patriotic attainments and power and in the 
estimate of peoples and of nations, will ever stand pre- 
eminent, rightfully demanding and forever receiving the 
first consideration and the unrestrained and enthusiastic 
plaudits of all patriots, of every lover of human liberty, of 
every coming generation — George Washington and Abra- 
ham Lincoln. 



Address of Air. Lodge on I lie 



ADDRESS OF MR. LODGE. 

Mr. President: Some time ago the Congress of the 
United States decreed that statues of distinguished Ameri- 
cans presented by the States to the nation should be placed 
in the old Chamber of the House of Representatives. 
That hall is a very fine one, and it may be doubted 
whether its beauty has been enhanced by the collection of 
statues now ranged about its walls. The hall, both in its 
proportion and its design, is simple, dignified, and harmo- 
nious; but no one, I imagine, would think of apph'ing 
those adjectives to the collection of statues which it con- 
tains. They certainly are not harmonious, for they are of 
all sizes, diverse heights, and different substances. There 
is, to be sure, a certain uniformity of artistic execution, 
but e\-en in this direction the uniformity is not complete, 
for among the figures there are some good statues. The 
most remarkable thing about the collection, however, is the 
choice of subjects, which ranges from George Washington 
to a governor of very passing if not purely local reputa- 
tion. This offers certainly a wide range of selection, but it 
seems to lead to some confusion as to what entitles a man 
to have his statue in the national Capitol wiien we consider 
who have been omitted and who let in. 

In view of these facts, therefore, it is a peculiar pleasure 
to receive to-day from the State of New Hampshire two 
statues which rightfully belong in any place set apart to 
commemorate the distinguished men who have served the 
Republic. One of these two was a soldier, conspicuous 
among those who established by arms the independence 



Acceptance of the Statue of Daniel Webster. 209 

of the United States. He sprang from that sturdy stock 
which brought to the north of Ireland the blood of the 
Scotch Covenanters and of Cromwell's Ironsides. He was 
of that race of men who flung back the forces of the 
Stuarts in the desperate siege of Londonderry, and who 
have played such a noted part in the history of this coun- 
try as soldiers, statesmen, and pioneers. New Hampshire 
to-day places his statue in the national Capitol, but the 
American people will always think of John Stark, not 
in the cold repose of bronze or marble, but as he looked 
leading the van through snow, and sleet, and darkness 
when Washington saved the Revolution at Trenton, or 
still more as he was when, blackened with powder, he 
charged with his men upon the British lines at Bennington. 

But it is not for me to dwell upon the services of this 
brave soldier of the Revolution. That more fitting!)- 
belongs to the Senators of his own State. New Hamp- 
shire, however, presents the statue of not only John 
St.\rk, but also that of a famous lawyer, statesman, and 
orator, Daniel Webster, one of the greatest names in 
our national history. In New Hampshire W^EBSTER was 
born and bred, and it is most fitting that she should give 
his statue to the nation. There he first practiced law, and 
thence he was first sent to Congress ; but his later career 
and his great fame belong to Massachusetts, the State 
which he served and honored and which loved and honored 
him for so many years. We ma\- well pause a moment in 
the business of the da)- to look back at such a man and 
such a career. 

Nature was generous almost without stint to Web.ster. 
He was endowed with marvelous gifts, both physical and 



210 Address of Mr. Lodge on the 

mental. The splendid lines of Shakespeare so often abused 
in eulogy could be applied to him without either exaggera- 
tion or bad taste. He in very truth had — 

The front of Jove himself; 
An eye like Mars, to threaten and command; 
A station like the herald Mercury, 
New-lighted on a heaven-kissing hill ; 
A combination, and a form, indeed, 
Where every god did seem to set his seal. 
To give the world assurance of a man. 

It were much to be wished that some painter or sculptor 
could set him before our eyes as Hamlet beheld his father, 

even — 

In his habit as he lived. 

And with these physical gifts, which Webster had in 
such large measure, there went also a personal charm as 
strong as it was impalpable, something quite apart from 
the intellect, and which is too often overlooked by the 
biographer and historian. From the day when as a small 
boy he sat by the roadside and read the Bible to the admir- 
ing teamsters who stopped to water their horses, or went to 
the fair and spent not only his own money but his 
brother's, Webster was followed and admired, supported 
and sustained, by hundreds of men and women who asked 
nothing more than to be able to serve and love and follow 
him. He awed and impressed the multitude who merely 
saw and heard him. He charmed and fascinated those 
with whom he came in closer touch. 

At the end of his life, wearied and disappointed in his 
immediate ambition, he declared that "law was uncertain 
and politics utterly vain." Yet his career had been 
crowded with all that men most desire. He had stood at 



Acaptaiuc of the Statue of Daniel Webster. 211 

the head of the bar of the United States. He had had all 
that his great profession could give of renown and achieve- 
ment. No arguments before our highest court have a 
fame equal to some of his, and he has left in his works the 
greatest speech to a jury in the language. As strong in 
argument as it is powerful in its appeal to the emotions, the 
diction as beautiful as the style is finished, the speech 
which avenged the murder of Stephen White stands unsur- 
passed. For nearly thirty \-ears in the politics which he 
called "utterh- \-ain"' he filled a place and wielded an in- 
fluence unsurpassed by any other man in a generation 
which included Clay and Calhoun. .\s an orator he had 
no rival, and the literary qualit>- of his speeches is so fine 
that they are repeated and familiar to-day, while those 
of his great antagonists are scarcely read except b\- stu- 
dents. 

The disappointment and regret of his last days came 
from the fact that he had failed to gain the one great office 
which he felt should have been his. The ambition was 
honorable, as the disappointment was natural. He could 
not see, as we see, how completely fame and achievement 
like his overshadow and outweigh the mere oflSce for which 
he longed. Schoolboys declaim his sentences; lawyers 
quote his opinions, and orators and statesmen appeal to his 
arguments to uphold their own, while some of the men 
who grasped the glittering prize for which he strove in 
vain are little more than names in the catalogue of history. 

His speeches, his writings, his work, are all part of our 
history and our literature, and will so remain. The mem- 
ory of the man fills almost as great a place now as his 
living presence did fifty years ago. Of all the men whose 



212 Address of Mr. Lodge on the 

statues have been placed or are }et to be placed in yonder 
hall there is not one so identified with this national Capitol 
as Webster. The old House recalls the speech for the 
Greeks and the denunciation of the Triple Alliance. The 
first thing that is .said to any stranger who enters the 
Supreme Court room is that this was the spot where 
Webster replied to Hayne. The new wings remind us 
that it was his stately eloquence which commemorated the 
laying of their 'corner-stones. 

It is most fit that it should be so. Webster's memory 
ought to be part of the Capitol, which stands as the 
symbol and expression of the National Government, for to 
the nation and to the Union the love of his life and the 
best work of his noble intellect were given. 

Webster is too great a man to treat with the contempt 
which is implied by mere eulog}' and the consequent 
implication that he was faultless. He had serious imper- 
fections and grave moral defects. This is not the place to 
enter into an}- analysis of either the strength or the weak- 
ness of his character. History recognizes and judges both. 
W^e set up his statue here beneath the dome of the Capitol 
in memory of his public career. There is no need, nor is 
there time or space, to follow that career in all its varied 
achievement, in its successes or its shortcomings. It is the 
great central fact of his life and work that is of most con- 
cern to ns here. For what did this man so marvelously 
gifted stand preeminent? For what does he stand preemi- 
nent to-day? In his own lifetime he was called "the 
expounder of the Constitution." The title is too dry and 
too narrow. He stood then and now stands as the great 
defender and champion of Union and of the nation in the 



Acceptance of the Statue of Daniel Jl'clnter. 213 

days when they needed defense. Not even the 7th of 
March changed him in that respect. 

That famous speech was the great crisis of Webster's 
life. He then turned his back upon his past, deserted his 
lifelong opposition to slavery, and sustained the compro- 
mise in which slavery was dominant. In so doing he 
defended the Union with all the fervor of his earlier days, 
but of the vast change in his attitude toward slavery there 
could be no question. The North fell away from him in 
grief and pain. The Northern people felt that he had 
deserted them as he had deserted his own past. In the 
heat of that bitter time it was said that he had sold his 
birthright for a mess of pottage, that he had abandoned his 
principles and his people, and bowed his knee in the house 
of Rimmon, bribed b}- a Southern promise of the Presi- 
dency which would never be fulfilled. It was a terrible 
explanation, but it was a simple one, and the simplest 
explanation is usually accepted at the moment. 

History, however, can not be content with what is 
merely obvious. In the tangled network of human mo- 
tives only omniscience can accurateh' decide which one 
governs. But this much can easily be seen, that human 
motives, so difficult always to determine, are rarely simple. 
Many influences may work to the same end. That the 
passion for the Presidency and the longing for Southern 
support played an important part in Webster's change of 
attitude can not be doubted. But it is narrow and unjust 
to think that this meaner influence was the only one. 
Then as always the dominant motive with Webster was 
his love for the Union. That he made a capital mistake 
on the 7th of March is clear enough to all who look 



214 Address of Mr. Lodge on the 

calmly at our history and who, in the words of Washing- 
ton, "think continentally. " That he of all men should 
have seen that the Union could not be saved b}' compro- 
mise and that he abo\e all men should not have tried to 
save the Union by compromise are equally plain. Yet, 
when all is said and all admitted, the fact remains that on 
the 7th of March, 1850, dread of secession and love of 
I'nion moved him to action — however mistaken that 
action ma}' have been — as the\- had always moved him 
before. 

As in his earliest so in his latest years, that love of Union 
was the passion of his life. When the excitement of the 
compromise period had passed, and when the war had 
been fought out, this became more and more apparent. 
Men looked back behind the 7th of ]\Iarch speech, forgot 
the hour of weakness, and recalled the da}s of strength. 
There we can see, above all, in the mighty speech known 
as the reply to Hayne, what Webster really did for us. 
He depicted the Union as it was. He showed how the Con- 
stitution had ceased to be an experiment and had made a 
nation and not a confederacy or a league. His words sank 
into the hearts of the people, and not only offered them 
arguments but gave them faith. He did more to create 
the national sentiment in the \-ears before the war than 
any other man, and it was this national sentiment that 
he expressed so passionately which nerved the arms and 
stirred the hearts of the Northern people when war came, 
and which drove forward the bayonets of the national 
armies on many a stricken field. 

Webster's devotion to the Union was as heartfelt as it 
was fervent. He not only believed in it as a patriot, but it 



Acceptance of the Statue of Dan hi Webster. 215 

was a part of his \ery nature. He had "no Alleghanies in 
his politics," and, like one of Lowell's pioneers, "he had 
empire in his brdin." In the great rush of the closing 
passages of that 7tli of March speech he cried "Peaceable 
secession! peaceable secession! What States are to secede? 
What is to remain American? What am I to be?" This 
was not the utterance of a colossal vanity or an overwhelm- 
ing egotism. It was a cry of the heart. The thought of 
a broken Union filled him with horror. He could not con- 
ceive himself as other than a citizen of the United States. 
He felt that he .should stifle and die if he were forced to be 
a dweller in one of half a dozen little republics on the 
South American model, and this he knew, as we all know 
now, was what secession carried in its train. It was this 
conception of Union and nationality, this imperial instinct, 
which inspired Webster's noblest words. If all else were 
forgotten, the memory of his battle for the Union and the 
nation would still survive. To the man who rendered this 
great service and who brought such splendid gifts to its 
performance we do well to raise a monument, and no place 
can be so fit for it as the very Capitol itself of the nation 
he so dearlv loved. 



Address of Mr. Galliiigcr on the 



Address of Mr. Gallinger, 

Mr. President: The career of Daniel Webster has 
been so ably and elaborately set forth on former occasions 
and to-day that nothing remains for me to do but to add a 
single word. Spending my summer vacations in the town 
where Webster was born, and frequently passing the spot 
on which the farmhouse stood where he first saw the light 
of day, it would be a labor of love to trace his steps from 
the obscure surroundings of his boyhood days to the time 
when he became the foremost figure in the Senate of the 
United States and the universally recognized leader of the 
political party to which he belonged. But this has already 
been done by others better than it could be done by me. 

The word I will say is simply to emphasize Webster's 
devotion to the Union and his broad and all-pervading 
nationality. He loved his country and its institutions. 
He revered the Constitution, which he defended with con- 
summate ability in the National Legislature. He deplored 
sectional strife, and exerted himself always to strengthen 
the bonds of good feeling between the States and the 
sections of our common country. Nullification, secession, 
disunion, were to him things of horrid import, and his 
influence and words were always in behalf of an insep- 
arable and indissoluble Union. 

Were Webster alive to-day, no fact connected with the 
Republic would give him so much joy as that the contest 
for a separation of the Union had been fought out and 
settled, and that the great principles of government which 



Acceptance of the Statue of Daniel Webster. 217 

he so ably advocated are forever established in the hearts 
and consciences of the American people. Here to-day, as 
a statue is unveiled in the nation's Capitol to his memory, 
and his virtues and achievements are recalled, we may 
well adopt his words as our own, and, renewing our vows 
to the oause of constitutional government, say to the people 
of all parts of this great land: 

Let our object be our country, our whole country, and nothing 
but our country; and by the blessing of God may the country itself 
become then a splendid monument, not of oppression and power, 
but of peace and prosperity, at which the whole worid may gaze in 
admiration forever. 

The Presiding Officer. The question is on agreeing 
to the concurrent resolutions submitted by the Senator 
from Massachusetts [Mr. Hoar]. 

The concurrent resolutions were unanimously agreed to. 



ACCEPTANCE OF THE STATUE, OF DANIEL WEBSTER 



PROCEEDINGS IN HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. 

DECEMBER 12, 1894. 

Mr. B.\KER, of New Hampshire. Mr. Speaker, I ask 
unanimous consent for the present consideration of the 
resohition which I send to the desk. 

The resolution was read, as follows: 

Resolved, That the exercises appropriate to the reception and 
acceptance from the State of New Hampshire of the statues of 
John Stark and Daniel Webster, to be erected in the old Hall 
of the House of Representatives, be made the special order for 
Thursday, the 20th day of December, at two o'clock p. m. 

The resolution was agreed to. 

On motion of Mr. B.\ker, of New Hampshire, a motion 
to reconsider the vote b\- whicli the resolution was adopted 
was laid on the table. 

DECEMBER 17, 1894. 

The Speaker laid before the House the following letter: 

State of New Hampshire, Kxecutive Department, 

Concord, December 5, 1894. 
Dear Sir: In accordance with an act passed at the biennial 
session of 1893, and in acceptance of an invitation contamed in 
section eighteen hundred and fourteen of the Revised Statutes of the 

219 



220 Proceedings in House of Representatives. 

United States, the State of New Hampshire has placed in the 
National Statuary Hall in the Capitol at Washington two statues in 
marble — the one of John Stark, the other of Daniel Webster. 
These statues were modeled by Carl Conrads after statues in bronze 
now in the State House Park at Concord. The original of the 
Webster statue is by Ball, and was presented to the State by 
Benjamin Pierce Cheney. The original statue of Stark is by 
Conrads, and was erected by the State. 

In behalf of the State of New Hampshire, I have the honor of 
presenting these statues to the Congress of the United States. 
Very respectfully, 

John B. Smith, Governor. 
Hon. Charles F. Crisp, 

Speaker of the House of Representatrces. 

The Speaker. This communication will lie upon the 
table until the House determines to act upon it. 

DECEMBER 20, 1894. 

The Speaker. The Clerk will report the special order. 
The Clerk read as follows: 

Resolved, That the exercises appropriate to the reception and 
acceptance from the State of New Hampshire of the statues of 
John Stark and Daniel Webster, to be erected in the old Hall 
of the House of Representatives, be made the special order for 
Thursday, the 20th day of December, at two o'clock p. m. 

Mr. B.AKER, of New Hampshire. Mr. Speaker, I ask that 
the letter of his excellency the governor of New Hampshire, 
addressed to the honorable Speaker of this House, which 
has been read and laid upon the table, be taken from the 
table and again reported. 

The letter was read, as follows: 
State of New Hampshire, Executive Department, 

Concord, December 5, 1894. 

Dear Sir: In accordance with an act passed at the biennial 
session of 1893, and in acceptance of an invitation contained in 
section eighteen hundred and fourteen of the Revised Statutes of the 



Acceptance of the Statue of Daniel Webster. 221 

United States, the State of New Hampshire has placed in the 
National Statuary Hall in the Capitol at Washington two statues in 
marble — the one of John Stark, the other of Daniel Webster. 
These statues were modeled by Carl Conrads after statues in bronze 
now in the State House Park at Concord. The original of the 
Webster statue is by Ball, and was presented to the State by 
Benjamin Pierce Cheney. The original statue of Stark is by 
Conrads, and was erected by the State. 

In behalf of the State of New Hampshire, I have the honor of 
presenting these statues to the Congress of the United States. 
Very respectfully, 

John B. Smith, Governor. 
Hon. Charles F. Crisp, 

Spi-akn- of the House of Kepresciitativcs. 

Mr. Rl.\ir. ^Ir. Speaker, I have the honor to subtnit a 
resolution, for which I ask immediate consideration. 
The resolution was read, as follows : 

Rcsotvedt'y the House of Representatives {the Senate concurring)., 
That the thanks of Congress are presented to the State of New 
Hampshire for the statue of Daniel Webster, a citizen of that 
State, illustrious for distinguished civic services rendered to his State, 
his country, and mankind 

Resolved, That the statue be accepted and assigned to a place in 
the National Statuary Hall, and that a copy of these resolutions, 
duly authenticated, be presented to his excellency the governor of 
the State of New Hampshire. 



222 Address of Mr. Blair on the 



ADDRESS OF Mr. Blair, 

Mr. Speaker: In recognition of the inseparable blend- 
ing of our National and State Governments, each necessary 
to the other and together forming one complete organic 
whole, Congress has set apart the old Hall of the House 
of Representatives for assembling in everlasting compan- 
ionship the statues of such of the superior men of the 
States, not exceeding two in number from each, as they 
respectively may select. 

No great American belongs wholly to his State, nor yet 
to the nation at large, but equally to both, and the presence 
of these silent but perpetual reminders of the high exam- 
ples and illustrious lives of those who have been most con- 
spicuously identified with the creation and growth of our 
institutions. States, and nationality can not fail to produce 
an ennobling and far-reaching efiect upon our people. 

The presence of these monuments will forever educate 
and instruct their beholders to emulate those actions which 
constitute the high careers of the great men whom they 
represent. 

In times of peace the\- will increase our peace; they may 
help to save us many wars, and to make those successful 
in which we are compelled to engage. By the influence of 
these august forms their great originals will hold perpetual 
session and legislate for the good of their country until the 
foundations of the Capitol are subverted and the city of 
Washington is no more. 

New Hampshire is one of the old thirteen. Founded in 
1623, three years after the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth 



Acceptance of the Statue of Daniel Jl'ebstcr. 223 

Rock, she was for one hundred and fifty years a frontier 
State, and the Revolution found her with a population of 
about eighty thousand, when Massachusetts had five times 
that number of people. But the two colonies always had 
much in common, far more than either had with any other 
colony, and in a certain way there was between them a true 
sisterly affection. 

Massachusetts has done many a kindly deed for New 
Hampshire, and in turn, for the century during which our 
little State fought the savages and the Frenchmen for the 
protection of her more flourishing, populous, and wealthy 
neighbor, as well as for her own existence, Massachusetts, 
by her enlarged opportunities, has often furnished, as she 
is still doing, the arena on which the sons of New Hamp- 
shire have found a more ample scope for their abilities 
and replenished the already well-filled records of the old 
Bay State with achievements of the highest order of 
ability. 

One notable, and the greatest man ever given by one 
American State to another, is the subject of the present 
exercises, and if it be suggested, as it has been suggested, 
that it might have been better if Massachusetts had been 
left herself to fitly honor the immortal orator, lawyer, and 
statesman by placing his counterfeit presentment in 
Statuary Hall, it should be remembered that, besides tlie 
facts of birth, education, and of a distinguished career 
already accomplished wlien Mr. Webster removed to 
Massachusetts, she has precluded such action on her part 
by having already presented statues of two of her own most 
distinguished .sons, whose illustrious lives fully entitle 
them to that high distinction. The quota of Massachusetts 



224 Address of Mr. Blair on the 

among these immortals is already full, but the complete 
galaxy of her sons who will never die would fill the heavens. 

Nor is even the great WebsteR necessary to the fame of 
New Hampshire, for she has innumerable soldiers, orators, 
statesmen, and patriots, with their records of eternal honor. 
But Mr. Webster was essentially a product of New 
Hampshire, born in the fullness of time, out of her stern 
conditions, there bred and educated, planted, exercised, 
and developed in professional life and in national public 
life, and so prepared for the more fortunate arena which he 
afterwards found in his adopted State. Therefore it is 
most appropriate that New Hampshire claim here and now 
and always that she produced the great North Star, whose 
steady light shall bid the ship of our liberties, as it navi- 
gates the ocean of our national destiny, "forever know its 
place." 

The family of Daniel Webster is said to be of Scotch 
origin, although its first American settler came from Eng- 
land and established himself at Hampton, N. H., in the 
year 1636. The descent is traced through Kingston and 
Salisbury, where D.\niel was born on the i8th da)- of 
January, 1782. His father was born at Kingston in 1739. 
He fought in the French and Indian war, rising to the rank 
of captain in the famous regiment of Rodgers's rangers, 
the most remarkable body of fighting men ever produced 
by the combination of civilized and savage warfare. 

When Canada became an English province by the 
cession in 1763, Ebenezer Webster removed to Salisbury 
and settled on the farm said to have then been the nearest 
the savages and Canada of any resided upon by civilized 
man in New England. He was a man of great natural 



Acceptance of the Statue of Daniel U'ehster. 225 

abilities, but without an\- of the advantages of education 
in early life. In spite of it all, however, he became a 
judge and one of tlie most influential men in that jjart of 
the State. 

He determined to educate Daniel, and in due time sent 
him to Phillips Academy, Exeter, and to Dartmouth Col- 
lege. The tale of the struggles of the family to accom- 
plish this, and also the education of Daniel's remarkable 
older brother Ezekiel, which was not thought of until 
the opening genius of Daniel aroused him to the im- 
portance of giving to Ezekiel the same advantages he 
was receiving himself, is jDathetic to the last degree, and 
no man can read it without tears. 

In 1805 D.ANIEL commenced the practice of law at 
Salisbury, where his father still lived, and where he sur- 
vived for a short time, and until he listened to the first 
plea of his son and foresaw the inevitable celebrity which 
was in store for him. 

In the town of Plymouth, where I formerly lived, the 
old court-house in which he made his first plea in an im- 
portant case is still preserved in its ancient form, being 
used for the purpose of a public library. On his last visit 
to Plymouth, Mr. Webster, with a party of friends, \is- 
ited this ancient building, then being used for the humble 
purposes of a wheelwright's repair shop, and jjointed out 
the location of the judges, lawyers, and jury, and described 
the scenes of the trial which was the real commencement 
of his professional career. After completing this intensely 
interesting account, he carelessly took a piece of chalk 
from the bench before him and wrote his name— Daniel 
Webster — on the wooden wall of the room, where it was 
IS s-w 



226 Address of Mr. Blair on the 

for years afterwards pointed out to visitors as Daniel 
Webster's autograph written in chalk, until one cold 
morning an uncouth apprentice boy daubed it out of sight 
in softening his brush, which had stiffened with paint the 
previous night. 

Knowing of these things and of the historic interest 
which would always attach to this old court-house, I res- 
cued it from destruction, and it is one of the pleasant mem- 
ories of my life that I saw it dedicated to a purpose not 
ignoble in comparison with that for which it was origi- 
nally erected. Traditions still survive in that community 
of the tremendous effect produced by this first plea of a 
then unknown young lawyer, but who has been famous ever 
since. When I was a boy, an old man with an extraordi- 
nary memory was still surviving, who would repeat page 
after page of it by heart with great verbal accuracy. I 
may further add that on the occasion of his last visit to 
Plymouth, which was in 1851, Mr. Webster alluded to 
his old friend. Dr. Thomas J. Whipple, who was once a 
member of Congress from that vicinity, as "the greatest 
reasoner he had ever known." Dr. Thomas J. Whipple 
was the father of the famous Col. Thomas J. Whipple, 
who lately died in the city of L,aconia. 

In the year 1807 Mr. Webster removed to the wealthy 
and patrician city of Portsmouth, when he at once took his 
place in the front rank along with Jeremiah Mason, prob- 
ably the greatest master of the common law that ever lived 
in this country, and who was, in the deliberately expressed 
opinion of Mr. WEBSTER, in no wise the inferior of Chief 
Justice Marshall himself. There is no doubt that the 
masterly professional struggles between these two giants 



Acceptance of the Statue of Daniel U'e/>ster. 227 

did more to make Daxiel WEBSTER the greatest all- 
around lawyer of his time than anything else. He first 
took his seat in Congress on the 24th da\- of May, 181 3, 
serving four years, and achieving national fame dviring the 
Thirteenth and Fourteenth Congresses as a member of the 
House from New Hampshire. 

In 1816 he removed to Boston, and resided in the State 
of Massachusetts until his death, which took place at 
Marshfield on the 24th day of October, 1852. 

Before Mr. Webster left New Hampshire he had done 
some of the best work of his life in the three great depart- 
ments of culture and intellectual service wherein he after- 
wards surpassed all contemporaries, as an orator, a lawyer, 
and a statesman. 

New Hampshire gave to Massachusetts and to the world 
a full-grown giant, with powers drawn from her inexhaust- 
ible resources for the production of men preeminent and 
sufficient for the demands of au\' arena. 

It is not the least of the abounding glories of the first of 
American States, save only the peerless mother of Web- 
ster herself, that Massachusetts took him to her bosom 
with the pride and affection of a natural mother, and that 
from her then unapproachable vantage ground of oppor- 
tunity she enabled the savior of the Constitution and of the 
Union to perform the tremendous work of the next thirty- 
six years. But, sir, it was no sapling, but a full-grown 
oak, which from the mountains of New Hampshire was 
transplanted to the shores of Massachusetts, there to flour- 
ish with increased vigor in the commingling breezes of the 
land and of the sea. 

Mr. Webster once said that New Hampshire was a 



228 Address of Mr. Blair on the 

good State to emigrate from; and whatever may have been 
his meaning at the time, not only he but thousands of her 
sons, who have gone forth to found and fashion the desti- 
nies of other States and of the whole Union of all the 
States, have found out too that New Hampshire is a good 
State to emigrate from; for to the qualities and powers and 
training with which she endowed and equipped them the 
obstacles of nature and of society have helplessly yielded 
and their home-given superiority has been acknowledged 
by grateful Commonwealths which trace their own eleva- 
tion to the influence of our granite hills. 

No emigrant from New Hampshire ever yet found it for 
his interest to conceal the State he came from, and it is 
her own greatest pride to feel that her sons need no written 
certificate of excellence as they turn their faces worldward 
to mingle in the great struggle of the generations of men, 
for they carry with them' in their own sinewy and well- 
knit and self-reliant natures an endowment which no Spar- 
tan or Athenian mother ever gave to her boy, and which, 
coupled with the resources and opportunities of other 
States, have placed them in the front rank of every pro- 
cession wherever they are found, and demonstrated that 
New Hampshire is indeed a good State to emigrate from. 
And of us who have remained on our native soil and who 
know her best, who does not thank God that he is per- 
mitted there to live? Who is not ready anywhere at any 
time to maintain her honor and for her to die? 

We are now, sir, approaching the great service of 
Daniel Webster to mankind. Upon it depends his 
fame, because it was as the expounder of the Constitution 
and the demonstrator of the nature of the government 



Acceptance of the Statue of Daniel Webster. 229 

formed by the union of these States that he placed himself 
above all the benefactors which his generation gave to his 
country, and laid the foundation of that intelligent con- 
viction and profound sentiment for patriotic nationality 
which permeated the heads and hearts of the people, and 
which, when in after years the grand trial of battle came, 
preserved the Union and the supremacy of its laws. 

The necessary brevity of these remarks will not permit 
the general discussion of his life and character. I shall, 
therefore, confine myself mainly to this part of the work 
of Mr. Webster, trusting, perhaps, to the courtesy of the 
House, on some future occasion, to place a more adequate 
estimate of his public services upon the records of the 
country, when I shall have had the opportunity for proper 
preparation, which circumstances have now denied. I do 
this the more willingly because I know that, besides my 
colleague aud other eminent gentlemen who will honor the 
occasion in what they may have to say, the distinguished 
member from Massachusetts, himself the worthy son of 
one of the superior men whose frequent association with 
Mr. Webster was to the increased honor and benefit of 
the whole country, and which association in youth he 
witnessed, will do ampler justice than I possibly can to 
the subject before us and to his own great Commonwealth. 

A real nation is a growth of many people into one sensi- 
tive and compact society, capable of united action, both 
for offense and defense, and in which all individuals and 
parts composing it, harmoniously blended, are important 
for its happy and powerful existence. It is not a mere herd 
or agglomeration of individual men, however numerous or 
even intelligent they may be. 



230 Address of Mr. Blair on the 

Nationality is essentially a thing of the mind. It can be 
produced only by processes which are chiefly mental, and 
by experiences which, although they may appertain much 
to the body, are yet incapable of creating a nation except 
as they produce a mental and moral unity, upon the 
strength of which, as a force directing and controlling 
animal existence and material things, the power and hap- 
piness and existence of the nation depend. 

In most of the great examples of histor}-, states and em- 
pires have been the result of ages of slow evolution from 
families and tribes, gradually increasing, improving, and 
surpassing and absorbing or destroying their neighbors, 
hardening and compacting and yet ever enlarging and as- 
cending with the vicissitudes of time, until at last they have 
become mighty social units, which have already played 
their parts in or are still in action upon the great drama of 
human aflFairs. The progress has always been not only 
from a given point forward and outward, but upward also. 
There has been increase not only in numbers, but intel- 
lectually and morally, and those only are in the highest 
and truest sense great nations in which the individual man 
is most intelligently patriotic. 

True it is that the influence of association upon the same 
soil or the same climate, and the existence of those rela- 
tions essential to the perpetuation, the support, and the 
defense of the community, will create a patriotic devotion 
formidable to those who assail it. But the existence of 
this tie — the tie of patriotism — which is of the essence of 
nationality, can only result from a feeling so strong that it 
has become such an essential part of the affections and of 
the intellectual structure of the people that their existence 



Acceptance of the Statue of Daniel Webster. 231 

together as a whole, as many in one, is absolutely indis- 
pensable to their happiness and that of their children. 
And this sentiment of patriotic devotion founded upon 
conviction of the mind must have become so strong and 
universal and unquestioned and unquestionable that it 
bursts forth spontaneously whenever the national autonomy 
is assailed. Thus at last men are for their country because 
it is their country. Whatever its cause may be, the coun- 
try must be right. Our country, right or wrong! Then 
men die for the flag without a question. Individuals are 
like atoms of the body, and partake of life and motion 
only as collectively they are the great body politic, living 
and dying in it and of it and with it. The Frenchman 
lives and dies for France, the German for Fatherland, the 
Englishman for Old England and for the Empire of the 
Seas, and the American for the Union of these States. 

Generally, in the history of the world, the evolution of 
this idea of nationality has been the work of ages. Not so 
in America. The circumstances of the origin of the States 
made it impossible. Yet an intense sentiment of national- 
ity was as necessary here as elsewhere for the existence of 
the nation and the preservation of the Union upon which 
it depends, because the laws of human nature are univer- 
sal. Our continent was unknown to the modern world 
and to the ancestors of those who now live in it until 
within the last four hundred )ears. The United States 
has been practically settled and developed within the last 
two hundred and fifty }ears. 

Three warring nations — England, France, and .Spain — 
struggled together in our foundation, to say nothing of the 
German, the Dutch, the Dane, the Swede and Norwegian, 



232 Address of Mr. Blair on the 

and many other European elements, the savages, the 
negro, and all the conflicting forms of creed and rank and 
of prejudice, and of other distracting and inharmonious 
conditions which obtained in our early history and during 
the brief period of settlement and growth in thirteen 
primal colonies which preceded the organization of the 
Government in 1789, at which time the whole were actu- 
ally dissolving in ruin, notwithstanding the great but 
terrible pressure of the then recent war for independence. 

There was then no nation. Notwithstanding the strong 
reasons, based upon common interest and ties, which re- 
sulted from participation in common dangers, and to some 
extent of kindred blood, there was no general, all-per- 
vading sentiment of patriotism and of nationality when the 
Government was founded. The best that could be done, 
the best that even the wisest and greatest attempted to do, 
was to organize a union which should leave the control of 
local and domestic conditions to the sovereignty of the 
States, parting with and conferring upon the General 
Government nothing except because of absolute necessity, 
and not from a general and spontaneous love of the whole 
mass of the people for each other, based upon long and 
tried association or upon intelligent conviction of what 
was best for them and their posterity. 

It was necessity and not love which led to the Union of 
these States. The original confederation was but a union 
of corporations, and there is little evidence that those cor- 
porations had souls which were inclined to cement them- 
selves into one grand nationality any further or faster than 
stern necessity compelled them to unite or die. When the 
pressure of imminent destruction was relaxed by the peace 



Acceptance of the Statue of Daniel Ji'ebster. 2;]3 

of independence in 1783, the true nature of the confeder- 
acy was revealed. Each State and section was in it for 
what could be made out of it, and for no more. 

And then ensued, without actual violence, all the essential 
conditions of absolute separate State sovereignty, but for 
which there would have been outright civil war. In their 
legal relations they were thirteen nations inclined to hos- 
tilities among themselves, and the interior condition of 
many of the individual States was hardly better than that 
which prevailed in the alleged confederacy at large. It is 
not too much to say that if, when it was adopted, the terms 
of the Constitution under which we now live had been 
universally and clearly understood by all the people in all 
the States precisely as they have turned out to be in the 
light of the construction given them since that time, this 
Union would not then have been formed. America would 
not then have become a nation. 

Time had not then welded us together. Intelligent con- 
viction had not done its work. There was no union of the 
minds and hearts of the people of the several States such 
as is indispensable to the existence of a nation — a great 
society which will die to preserve its internal as well as 
external autonomy. At once the warfare over the contra- 
dictory constructions of the Constitution began. The Vir- 
ginia and Kentucky resolutions recorded the anti-national 
views as early as 1798. A great party, strong in the whole 
country and soon in control of the Government, and retain- 
ing it most of the time until 1840, generally upheld this 
construction of the Constitution. 

Meanwhile domestic slavery became a most powerful in- 
stitution in one-half of the country, and the development 



234 Address of Mr. Blair on the 

of the cotton -raising industry identified the existing 
prosperity as well as the social condition of the great 
South with the anti-national doctrines ; and during all 
those forty years, from the foundation of the Government 
until the debate between Mr. WEBSTER and Mr. Hayne 
in 1830, the masses of the American people had been 
taught (so far as they had been taught at all) to believe 
that our Government was a confederacy of States which 
might peaceably dissolve at will, and not a nation which 
had the rightful power to coerce a State and reduce a 
rebellion within a State by war against the will of the 
State. 

A free people will not fight for that in which they do 
not believe. 

Notwithstanding the decisions of the Supreme Court 
and the luminous opinions of Marshall and of other great 
jurists and statesmen, it is probable that when Mr. 
Webster stood up in the American Senate to reply to 
the masterly speech of Mr. Hayne upholding the doctrine 
of nullification and the right of secession, two-thirds of 
the American people believed with Mr. Hayne and not 
with Mr. Webster, and nearly, perhaps quite, one-half 
of the Northern people were of the same belief The 
jury was with Mr. Hayne. 

Before the sentiment of nationality could become the 
controlling one in this country, before there could be 
created a devotion to the Union of the States and to the 
sovereignty of that Union in all that had been granted to 
it by the Constitution, even if need be to the shedding of 
blood, it was necessary that some great spirit should 
explore the whole ground of the relations between the 



Acceptatice of the Staiitc of Daniel Webster. 235 

States and the Union, should examine ever\- proposition 
advanced on either side, meet every sophistry, and resolve 
every doubt that could be raised; weigh all conflicting 
interests and duly balance them with each other; enlighten 
all men and all sections with the torch of reason, and 
enforce the truth by the most formidable powers of 
eloquence upon the minds and hearts of the whole people. 

It was necessary that the people should be aroused to 
study the nature of their situation as a part of the great 
system of human affairs, and that they be led profoundly 
and anxiously to study the great problem of their relations 
to each other and to mankind then and for all coming 
time, that whenever in the future the test should come, as 
come it did, they should give that construction to the Con- 
stitution by which a generation afterwards welded the 
Union of these States into one glorious sovereign whole, 
a Union national and inseparable and indestructible in its 
character, consecrated in the holiest blood of a million of 
her sons, and ordained to last forever. 

This was the great task that the God of nations set 
before Daniel Webster when he replied to Robert Young 
Hayne on the 26th day of January, A. D. 1830. Mr. 
Webster said: 

Sir, I understand the lionorable gentleman from South Carolina 
to maintain that it is a right of the State legislatures to interfere 
whenever in their judgment this Government transcends its consti- 
tutional limits, and to arrest the operation of its laws. * * * 
And that if the exigency of the case, in the opinion of any State gov- 
ernment, require it, such State government may by its own sover- 
eign authority annul an act of the General Government which it 
deems plainly and palpably unconstitutional. 

Would anything with such a principle in it, or rather with such a 
destitution of all principle, be fit to be called a government ? No, 



23e Address of Mr. Blair on the 

sir. It should not be denominated a constitution. It should be 
called rather a collection of topics for everlasting controversy ; heads 
of debate for a disputatious people. It would not be a government. 

This Government, sir, is the independent offspring of the popular 
will. It is not the creature of State legislatures; nay, more, if the 
whole truth must be told, the people brought it into existence, estab- 
lished and have hitherto supported it- for the very purpose, among 
others, of imposing certain salutary restraints on State sovereignties. 

The people, then, sir, erected this Government, and have wisely 
provided in the Constitution itself a proper and suitable mode and 
tribunal for settling questions of constitutional law. The Constitu- 
tion has itself pointed out, ordained, and established that authority 
by declaring, sir, that the Constitution and the laws of the United 
States made in pursuance thereof shall be the supreme law of the 
land, anything in the constitution or laws of any State to the con- 
trary notwithstanding, and that the judicial power shall extend to all 
cases arising under the Constitution and laws of the United States. 

These two provisions, sir, cover the whole ground. They are in 
truth the keystone of the arch. With these it is a government ; 
without them it is a confederacy. 

While the Union lasts we have high, exciting, gratifying prospects 
spread out before us for us and our children. Beyond that I seek 
not to penetrate the veil. God grant that in my day at least that 
curtain may not rise ! God grant that on my vision never may be 
opened what lies behind! When my eyes shall be turned for the 
last time to behold the sun in heaven, may I not see him shining on 
the broken and dishonored fragments of a once glorious Union ; on 
States dissevered, discordant, belligerent ; on a land rent with civil 
feuds, or drenched, it may be, with fraternal blood ! 

Let my last feeble and lingering glance rather behold the gor- 
geous ensign of the Republic, now known and honored throughout 
the earth, still full high advanced, its arms and trophies streaming 
in their original luster, not a stripe erased or polluted, nor a single 
star obscured, bearing for its motto no such miserable interrogatory 
as "What is all this worth.?" nor those other words of delusion and 
folly, " Liberty first and Union afterwards ; " but everywhere, spread 
all over in characters of living light, blazing on all its ample folds, 
as they float over the sea and over the land and in every wind 



.■hn-ptaiuT of the Statue of Daitul II 'chstcr 237 

under the whole heavens, that otlier sentiment, dear to every true 
American heart, Liberty and Union, now and forever, one and 
inseparable. 

Sir, to tis upon whose vision that curtain did rise, and 
who saw and suffered what lay behind, these words seem 
like the utterances of inspiration ; and with the added 
emphasis of four j'ears of bloody debate on a thousand 
battlefields, and with the shrieks and prayers of a million 
of our countrymen still ringing in our ears, let us of the 
North, and us of the South, and all of us from ever\- part 
of our chastened, reunited, and glorified country, com- 
mend them to ourselves and to our posterity generation 
after generation, until the Union shall dissolve and blend 
in millennial peace and governments among men shall 
be no more- 

When Mr. Webster sat down at the close of that tre- 
mendous oration the work was done. 

A nation had been born in a da)-. That day was the real 
turning point in American history since the Declaration of 
Independence. It, too, should be celebrated with bonfires 
and illuminations, the ringing of bells, and the acclaim of 
rescued and happy millions forever. It insured the exist- 
ence of the nation, because it furnished the argument 
which convinced the reason and stormed and overwhelmed 
the hearts of the people. For the first time they saw and 
felt that they must be a nation, that nationality and the 
perpetual union of these States are inseparable and indis- 
pensable to their existence, and that the patriot must die 
to maintain the supremacy- of the flag of the Union against 
domestic revolt as well as against the foreign foe. 

During the next thirty years the sentiments of this great 



238 Address of Mr. Blair on the 

argument were repeated everj-where throughout the popu- 
lous and ever-increasing North. 

Its magnificent diction made it a classic at once to live 
forev^er by the side of the oration of Demosthenes on the 
Crown, while the occasion and the consequences of its 
delivery were infinitely more important. Every schoolboy 
declaimed it, every student studied it, every jirofessional 
man sought culture and inspiration from its grand and 
impressive sentences, its logic, its sarcasm, its majesty, and 
almost supernatural power. 

The people read it and reread it and read it again, and 
ever afterwards they called him the "godlike." Tliat 
speech was the platform of the Union armies throughout 
the war for the Union, and if its sentiments had not been 
growing in the hearts and minds of the people of the North 
for thirty years the war would have been a failure and the 
nation would have been lost. Even as it was, at its out- 
break a Northern President declared that he could not 
coerce a State. But if he could not, the American people 
had so studied the Constitution under Mr. Webster that 
they could and they did. But they never would have 
made war for the Union if they had not first been welded 
into a real nation by the logic and power of Mr. Web.ster's 
reply to Mr. Hayne. 

Mr. Webster performed twenty-two years of very im- 
portant public service after the reply to Hayne, which was 
his greatest work, and the greatest work ever performed 
by any man in speech. 

But I rest his fame and the tributes we bring him now 
upon the reply to Hayne. All else he ever did, and it 
would be enough to immortalize a hundred men, is as 



Acceptance of the Statue of Daniel Webster. 239 

nothing in comparison to the argu;nent which made ns a 
nation, and will preserve us a nation forevermore. 

In the autumn of 1852, at Marshfield, on the shore of 
his beloved adopted State, his majestic form gave up his 
mighty spirit, and, as though the mortal was conscious 
of the transition to immortality, exclaiming, "I still 
live!" he died. 

Sir, his excellency Governor John B. Suiith, with his 
honorable council, have made it one of the important meas- 
ures of his wise, beneficent, and distinguished adminis- 
tration of the affairs of New Hampshire, in accordance 
with the action of her legislature, to place in Statuary 
Hall the figure of this extraordinary man, and thus to 
commemorate the great actions of her illustrious son. 

John Stark and Daniel Webster represent New 
Hampshire in yonder Hall filled with the immortal men 
whom their respective States do most delight to honor. 

Stark in war, Webster in peace and in that prepara- 
tion for war which in time of peace his labors made iu the 
minds of the people, and without which the greatest of all 
wars would have failed. Who shall say that the selection 
of New Hampshire is not well made? Yet she had many 
other worthy sons, and among her Langdons and Whipples 
and Bartlett'i and Thorntons and Weares and Livermores 
and Sullivans and Cilleys, and hundreds of others of Revo- 
lutionar>' and later days, the choice of preeminence was not 
an easy task. These, I may proudly say, sir, are specimens 
of her equal rather than of her greatest work. 

As I linger in thought over her noble history; as I dwell 
upon the enchantment of her scenerv, her mountains, her 
vales, and her waters; her soil, stubboru but producing 



240 Address of Mr. Blair on the 

the choicest growths of her latitude; her forests, which 
defy the storm and the thunderbolt, so that it scarcelj' 
rends the stalwart trunk which conducts it to the earth; her 
waters, which surpass the 'nectar of the gods in ambrosial 
purit}-, and which move more wealth-producing machinery 
than any equal power anywhere else on earth ; her beauty 
of form and feature; her sweet breath, that heals the sick 
and inspires the exhausted sons and daughters of toil from 
other States and lands still more remote with life and hope 
and resolution; of her institutions of civil and religious 
liberty and of her rich contributions to all that is great 
and good and glorious in this world, and of the deeds of 
the great dead whom she has given to the eternal and the 
unseen, but whose examples survive forever to instruct and 
ennoble mankind, I feel the eulogium spontaneously spring- 
ing to my lips, which I suppress only because I know that 
the modesty of New Hampshire will leave to the Genius 
of Columbia to utter it in this high presence and among 
her generous sister States: 

Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all. 



Acceptance of the Statue of Daniel U 'ebster. 241 



Address of Mr. Everett. 

Mr. Speaker: When the State of New Hampshire pre- 
sents to the nation statues of John Stark and Daniel 
Webster, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts feels that 
she has no doubtful part to take in the appropriate exer- 
cises. It was on Iier soil that John Stark hastened to 
join the gathering armies of American liberty; and his 
courage, his persistency, and his prudence exhibited 
themselves in their fullest luster at Bunker Hill, clcse to 
the spot which Winthrop chose for his plantation. Without 
John Stark that glorious defeat might have been a real as 
well as a nominal victory for the oppressors of Massa- 
chusetts. 

But when Daniel Webster is the theme of our ad- 
dresses, Massachusetts claims something more than a mere 
appreciative or sympathetic share in his renown. He 
came to Boston in early manhood, and, with no recom- 
mendation but what appeared in his face and conversation, 
studied law with our honored governor, Christopher Gore, 
one of the most learned, patriotic, and high-minded of our 
earlier jurists and statesmen. He was admitted to the bar 
of our Suffolk County before he entered that of his own 
Hillsboro. When his Congressional service from Xew 
Hampshire was over, he transferred his home and his prac- 
tice to Boston, after hesitating between that and Albany, 
as offering the wider field. He served in the convention 
of 1820, which recast our ancient constitution so well 
16 s — w 



242 Address of Mr. Everett on the 

that it has needed no general remodelling in the lapse of 
seventy-four \-ears. 

In that year, 1820, he electrified the nation by a mighty 
strain of eloquence at the anniversary of the landing at 
Plymouth; and again in 1825 by his oration on laying the 
corner stone of the Bunker Hill Monument in the presence 
of Lafayette. For a few days he was a member of the 
Massachusetts legislature. Thrice he was elected to this 
House by the votes of the city of Boston, and as many 
times to the United States Senate by the legislature of 
Massachusetts. At our bar were won some of his most 
distinguished forensic triumphs, notably that amazing 
argument in the case of the murder of Captain White, where 
his description of the workings of a guilty conscience 
makes everyone with the slightest stain on his soul feel as 
if the great pleader's hand was inserted in his breast and 
the fingers working among the very fibres of his heart. 
As the representative of Massachusetts, the walls of yon- 
der venerable halls rang with the thunders of his voice, 
and statesmen from every part of our common country 
drew in his messages of profound wisdom, of burning elo- 
quence, of exalted patriotism; pilgrims from afar flocked 
to gaze on the man of whom it is hard to say whether the 
admiration of strangers or the love of his own was most 
conspicuous. 

Retaining the possession and the love of his paternal 
acres along the Merrimac, he made a seaside home on the 
shores of Massachusetts Bay, which was consecrated by the 
tombs of the Winslow family, the descendants of Edward 
Winslow, second to none among those Pilgrim Fathers 
whose services he had so nobly commemorated; and there, 



Acaplancc of the Statue of Daniel Webster. 243 

when his long work of devotion and honor was done, the 
stalwart frame which first drew breath in the fields of New 
Hampshire was laid to rest in the soil of his adopted State, 
among the saints and heroes of Massachusetts. 

You gave him to us as your most precious treasure; we 
accepted, we honored, we loved, we kept him as our own. 
For through all these years of his adoption Mr. Web- 
ster retained the confidence and love of our Common- 
wealth. There was no one who so completely felt with 
her feelings and spoke with her voice. Like every public 
man, he had his opponents, and their opposition at times 
was deep and bitter, their tones rude and harsh. At certain 
periods of his life it seemed as if the ancient ties must be 
severed and the ancient love wa.x cold, but before the sad 
day of his death the clouds had parted, and few indeed 
there were within the borders of the Bay vState who did not 
feel that that hour had removed the man who stood before 
the nation as our one true representative. When his statue 
holds its place by yonder entrance we feel no jealousy of 
New Hampshire that the visitor to the Hall finds her son 
as the doorkeeper to the representatives of the nation; 
there is no feeling but generous rivalry that the entrance 
lies under the overshadowing presence of him who is ours 
as he is yours. 

I shall not be guilty of the impropriety of detailing Mr. 
Web.ster's career at this hour; but shall speak in com- 
memoration of two things only which I conceive place him 
upon a pinnacle of exalted honor where there are ver>- few 
at his side. He was an American patriot; he lived for the 
Union. He loved New Hampshire, he loved Massachusetts 
with all his heart; but he never thought of either except 



244 Address of Mr. Everett on the 

as belonging to one glorious, indissoluble, perpetual whole. 
He knew well that his own State, the first colony to form a 
State constitution, did not do so till she had asked the 
advice of the Continental Congress delegates from the 
whole thirteen. The Union as the only protection, nay, as 
the inseparable adjunct of our liberty, the Constitution as 
the embodiment alike of our national and our State exist- 
ence, were all in all to him. He would not admit, he could 
not conceive, of the States, his own or any other, separated 
from the Union, any more than he could fancy one star in 
the belt of Orion separate from the gorgeous sisterhood 
which it joins to form those names of splendor. 

In weal and in woe, in cloud or in sunshine, each State 
looking each other in the face or presenting a serried front 
to the other nations, he poured in the ears of his people one 
message for encouragement or warning, that, united, we 
are all that our wildest imagination or ambition can claim; 
divided, we are worse than nothing. On every spot of 
American soil he saw his equal home. The Buckeye and 
the Palmetto were as dear to him as the Pine and the Oak. 
In the paradise of our Western land, this garden planted by 
the hand of God, he conceived that every State must send 
up her own growth, by the blending of their sturdy stocks, 
their verdant shades, their grateful fruits of every stature 
and type and hue, to cast over this broad continent that 
mingled fragrance which should breathe forever of liberty, 
of order, of progress, and of hope for man. 

As the champion of the Union, he was dear to every 
section of the country. When others saw parts only, he 
saw, he cheered, he inspired the whole. He was as dear 
to Kentucky as to New Hampshire; to Georgia as to 



Acceptance of the Statue of Daniel Webster. 245 

Massachusetts. He died as he wished to die, before his eyes 
might gaze "on a land rent with civil feuds and drenched 
in fraternal blood, on States dissevered, discordant, bellig- 
erent;" and in that terrible time, Mr. Speaker, which 
racked the hearts of all, how many were there not, in vour 
State as in mine, who turned a wistful glance to the like- 
ness of those dark features so familiar in every American 
household and breathed with a sigh, "If thou hadst been 
here, our brothers had not died." • 

This devotion to the Union was the spring whence flowed 
all Mr. Webster's Senatorial and many of his forensic 
lUterances. He impressed it upon his countrymen bv 
oratory, whereof he was an unquestioned master. There 
is this characteristic of Mr. Webster's eloquence, wherein 
it differs from the speech of many of his most admired con- 
temporaries, that it is of permanent value. It stands the 
test of reading and rehearsal. You may take the speeches 
of many illustrious men which thrilled their audiences to 
shouts and tears, and try to reproduce their effect now; the 
printed word is cold and dead without the magic of the 
circumstances which evoked them and the voices which 
uttered them. But the crudest schoolboy can elicit from 
the most hackneyed periods of Webster, as he can from 
those of Chatham and of Gladstone, strains of conviction 
and of pathos which shall penetrate and stir strong men and 
tender women now as they did sixty years ago. 

At home his name was the symbol of union. Of what 
was it abroad ? I desire to recall a single episode in his 
career, when the dispute on the Maine boundary threat- 
ened to plunge us into a war with England. President 
Tyler's Administration had inherited from President Van 



24() Address of Mr. Everett on the 

Buren's the seeds of strife with Great Britain. The oldest 
States were chafino^ in the Northeast; the newest Terri- 
tories in the Northwest. The people of Maine believed — 
their descendants believe to-day — that the Northeastern 
claims of Great Britain had no warrant in the treaty of 1783. 
The line proposed by the King of Holland had been indig- 
nantly rejected. The pioneers of the Columbia were 
eqnalh- incensed. Throughout the country and all along 
the frontier fiery spirits were eager to rush to arms. Sup- 
pose Mr. Webster had caught up that sentiment; sup- 
pose that when Sir Robert Peel suggested the hope of a 
compromise line and sent a special envoy, Mr. Webster 
had refused the proposal ; had defied Sir Robei^t Peel and 
Lord Ashburton; had appealed to the war spirit of the coun- 
try from Maine to Louisiana ; had launched the yeomanry and 
chivalry of the Union simultaneously across the St. Croix, 
the St. Lawrence, the Columbia, and the Sabine; had sent 
the Princeton on her first cruise to open against the Eng- 
lish that deep-mouthed ordnance which was to prove so 
fatal to his own successor. Why, at the end of Mr. Tyler's 
Administration he might have floated into the White House, 
triumphantly boriie on waves of blood, as the great war 
Secretary ! A more brilliant prospect of glory rarely offers 
itself to republican statesmen. Mr. Web.sTER knew bet- 
ter. He knew that the torch of war as it sweeps over 
kindred nations, however it may dazzle or may warm at the 
moment, leaves behind it a terrible train of woe — not 
merely the wounds and deaths of thousands who can ill 
be spared to their country; not merely blasted fields and 
ruined families; not merfly the cost of millions, which 
a peace of tenfold duration can hardly repair, but the 



Acceptance of the Statue of Daiiiel ]]'ebsier. 247 

rankling passions and unsatiated \engeance of mighty 
nations, which God made to live together in unit\-, peace, 
and concord. 

]\Ir. Webster's acceptance of a boundary line brought 
upon him the malignant reproaches of all that is ignorant 
and base on both sides of the water, both for what he kept 
and what he gave. All that he renounced would have been 
a trifling price to pay for the first extradition treaty, which 
he achieved at the same time ; but it was repaid tenfold 
by the glorious victory of peace between sister nations, 
who never ought to be at war. 

The honors to which Mr. Webster rose, as the just 
rewards of his exertions, were not all that his generous and 
well-founded ambition expected ; they were not all that 
his State deemed he deserved. Massachusetts had not been 
afraid to cast her electoral vote for him when no other 
State stood by her side. It was under a burden of disap- 
pointment, a sense of ingratitude, that he lay down to rest 
at last, where his requiem is chanted by the waves of that 
ocean to which he resorted so eagerly for sport and recrea- 
tion, on which he gazed not as the barrier which Provi- 
dence has raised to sever hostile lands, but as the great field 
for friendly intercourse, opening for peaceful traffic, as the 
road where the white-winged squadrons of trade and amity 
can pass to and fro between united and trusting peoples. 

No; he did not gain the highest reward of an American, 
statesman. And what if he did not gain it ? The crown of 
honor as an orator, a statesman, a patriot, can afford to lack 
a single jewel when starred with gems of such varied lustre; 
and when his native State sets his statue in yonder sacred 
Hall, we may repeat of him, with scarcely an alteration, the 



248 Address of Mr. Everett mi the 

lines which welcome to Westminster Abbe}- the dnst of an 

earlier secretary of state: 

Along the walls where speaking marbles show 
What worthies form the hallowed mold below; 
Proud names, who once the reins of empire held. 
In arms who triumphed, or in arts excelled; 
Chiefs, graced with scars, and prodigal of blood; 
Stern patriots, who for sacred freedom stood ; 
Just men, by whom impartial laws were given, 
And saints who taught and led the way to heaven — 
Ne'er to these chambers where the mighty rest 
Since their foundation came a nobler guest. 

Mr. Speaker, I have discharged, most imperfectly I know, 
a debt resting on me as a Representative of Massachu- 
setts, a lover of his country, and an admirer of whatever 
is grand in public life. But I have tried to do more; I 
have tried to pay a debt of hereditary gratitude, of friend- 
ship, of love. I am old enough to have sat by his side and 
gazed into his face — old enough to have received from his 
lips the seal of hereditary affection, the renewal of one that 
lasted unbroken for long over forty years. I am old 
enough to reinember how the silence of a New England 
Sunday morning was broken by the deep-toned bell which 
told that he had passed away, and chilled the hearts of the 
boys and girls as well as of the men and women of IMassa- 
chusetts. 

It is a distinguished honor to respond for Massachwsetts 
when she welcomes the statue of that mighty son whom she 
shares with New Hampshire. It is a delight to awaken the 
passing echoes of that man's renown, who, besides the 
admiration he won from all his countrymen and the respect 
he extorted from every nation, bound to him his friends, 
now, alas! a few and feeble band, by a chain of undying 
love whose lustre memory only makes brighter as time with- 
draws its links farther and farther into the unseen world. 



Acceptance of the Statue of Daniel Webster. 



ADDRESS OF Mr. Curtis, of New York. 

Mr. Speaker: It is not my purpose to ask the indul- 
gence of the House to give an extended review of the 
services of John Stark and Daniel Webster. The 
Representatives of New Hampshire have done that in 
fitting words and in ample form. 

John Stark was a striking personality. He had the 
genius of a military leader, uniting clear conception of 
purpose to prompt action, consummate skill to intrepid 
boldness, and the power of imparting to others when in 
battle his own personal characteristics, and to impel them 
to the most heroic action. This magnetic power he had in 
an extraordinary degree. It comes as a birthright, and is 
a gift which it is not the province of technical schools to 
create nor experience to teach. 

He conducted compaigns against the skulking Indian 
and the disciplined soldier of the British army with con- 
spicuous and unv^arying success. When called by the exi- 
gencies of the service to strategic points, he marched with 
the force at his disposal, calling for volunteers from the 
section through which he passed, and organized raw re- 
cruits into battalions, which he fought with such courage 
and impetuosity that they overwhelmed veteran troops. 
His presence multiplied their efficiency as though their 
numbers had been doubled, and Colonel Baum, whose 
command (as well as his reserves, under ColcJnel Breyman) 
was captured by Stark at Bennington, acknowledged 
that in his report, saying: "They fought more like hell- 
hounds than soldiers." 



250 Address of Mr. Curtis on the 

His important victory at Bennington contributed very 
materially to the success of our arms in the decisive battle 
of Saratoga, in which the Continental army won against 
the generalship of the most accomplished soldier England 
sent to America during the Revolutionary war. John 
Stark was, throughout his long years of public service, 
true, valiant, and eminently successful, a conspicuous rep- 
resentative of the martial spirit and the patriotic devotion 
which won our independence. 

Daniei. Webster was born in the early days of the 
nation's independence. If the Muses attend at the birth 
of poets and "feed them on thoughts that voluntary 
move harmonious numbers," so may Daniel Webster's 
have been attended by the guardian angel of the Republic, 
for his life was one of devotion to the Federal Union. He 
gave a forecast of his future in his first public address, 
delivered when a college student at eighteen years of age, 
in which he commended "love of country," praised the 
"grandeur of the American nationality, fidelity to the Con- 
stitution, and the nobility of the Union of the States." 

One of the first important cases in which he was 
retained related to the charter of his alma mater, and 
involved a construction of the Federal Constitution. His 
argument in support of the principles he maintained was 
sustained by the Supreme Court of the United States in a 
decision 'which was the first to define the scope and 
supremacy of the Federal Constitution, and which has 
since stood as a correct interpretation of its sovereign 
authority. Later, in the United States Senate, preceding, 
pending, and following nullification, he again asserted its 
principles, then vigorously disputed; and a generation 



Acceptance of the Statue of Daniel Webster. 251 

afterwards, at the close of a fratricidal war, his interpreta- 
tion was accepted by all. He saw with prophetic vision 
what dire results a different construction would produce, 
and prayed that "his eyes should never behold discordant, 
dismembered States, a land drenched in fraternal blood. " 
The strife came after his glorious career was ended, and 
"the error, the heresy of opinion" he so eloquently com- 
bated could never have been overcome except by the appeal 
and the sacrifices which were made; but the end of the 
civil war brought a full acceptance of the principles he had 
contended for as essentially requisite to the preser\'ation of 
the Union. 

Lamartine has said: "There are certain men whom 
nature has endowed with distinct privileges. Their ambi- 
tion, instead of being the offspring of passion, is the 
emanation of mental power. They do not aspire, but 
they mount by an irresistible force, as the aerostatic globe 
rises above an element heavier than itself, by the sole 
superiority of specific ascendency." Among the favored 
few thus richly endowed, whose intellect and devotion have 
been a benefaction to the people of this country, D.A.XIEL 
Webster stands preeminently at the head. 

When Congress, on the 2d of July, 1864, "authorized 
the President to invite each and all the States to furnish 
statues in marble or bronze, not exceeding two for each 
State, of deceased persons who have been citizens thereof 
and illustrious for historic renown or for distinguished 
civic or military services," the country was at the crisis of 
the mighty contest for its preservation. Men of stout 
hearts and unswerving patriotism directed public affairs, 
and, with confidence in the ultimate triumph of the Union 



252 Address of Mr. Curtis on the 

cause, Congress dedicated the old Hall of the House of 
Representatives as a National Statuary Hall, thus formally 
declaring that the Capitol at Washington was, and should 
forever be, the Capitol of an undivided country. 

The States responding to the invitation have sent, with 
rare discrimination, life-sized images in imperishable mar- 
ble of men most conspicuous for services in establishing 
and maintaining the Federal Government. New Hamp- 
shire sends a faithful image of her citizen soldier, who was 
the embodiment of civic virtue and martial genius, and of 
him whose loving heart, massive intellect, and eloquent 
tongue were ever exerted for humanity, liberty, and prog- 
ress ; the expounder and defender of the Constitution. 
They will stand in silent companionship with the statues 
of eminent Americans conspicuous in the struggle for' 
independence and the preservation of the Union; with 
Washington, Hamilton, Jefferson, and their compatriots, 
who achieved our independence; with Lincoln and his 
associates in the cause of preser\ing the Union — men who 
preeminently excelled in the value of their patriotic 
labors in the cause of humanity and constitutional go\ern- 
ment the achievements of the historic characters of any 
previous age. 

In accepting these statues, let all, and especially those 
who took part, on whichever side, in the great conflict in 
which these disturbing questions were finally and, as we 
all believe, wisely and justly settled, make grateful ac- 
knowledgment to Almighty God for His blessings on their 
beneficent services to us as a nation, and ever declare, in 
the words of the American statesman's prayer, "Liberty 
and Union, now and forever, one and inseparable!" 



Acceptance of the Statue of Daniel JJ'cbsto 



ADDRESS OF Mr, Morse, 

Mr. Speaker: 1 can hardly hope to add anythino to the 
eloquent words which have been spoken on this occasion 
by my colleague and the distinguished gentlemen who 
have preceded me, and my speech will be brief. 

At Marshfield, in my district, was the ^Massachusetts 
home of Daniel Webster, and at Marshfield lie buried 
the mortal remains of the great expounder and defender of 
the Constitution; and the waters of Massachusetts Bay 
have washed the shores of that ancient town and sung a 
lullaby to the sleeper there for nearh- half a century. 

Mr. Speaker, New Hampshire, the birthplace of the 
godlike Daniel, honors the State and her illustrious son 
by this act in the presence of her distinguished governor 
to-day, and honors Massachusetts as well by this tribute to 
her illustrious and adopted son. 

Yes, at Marshfield, in my district, hard by old Plymouth, 
where sleep the Pilgrims, and where the gigantic statue 
of Faith surmounts the monument to their memory; hard 
by old Duxburv, where the monument to Miles Standish 
casts its shadow on the sea; hard b\- old Hingham, where 
stands the statue of Massachusetts' great war governor, 
John A. Andrew, whose finger points to the bar of God, 
whose evenhanded justice he invoked for all men without 
regard to race, color, or condition; hard by old Ouincy, 
where rest the mortal remains of two Presidents — ^John 
Adams, the second President of the United States, and 
John Quincy Adams, the Old Man Eloquent, who, after he 
had been President, for sixteen years stood in this Capitol as 



254 Address of Mr. Morse on the 

the representative of substantially the same district which 
I have the honor to represent, and who died at the post of 
duty in yonder hall, February 23, 1848, saying, "This is 
the last of earth; I am content" — in tliat part of the old 
Commonwealth, rich in history, big with great men, re- 
nowned in all our history; I say, in the old God-fearing 
town of Marshfield Daniel Webster lived and died. 
Here he looked out on the scenes of earth for the last time, 
and uttered his last words, "I still live." 

Surrounded by his friends and those he loved, he bade 
adieu to the scenes of earth, and, as all must do, great and 
small, sooner or later, he crossed the great divide; he 
entered on the awful and untried realities of the eternal 
world. From the windows of his chamber he took his last 
long look at the waters of Massachusetts Bay and the old 
ocean he loved so well — the old ocean whose farthermost 
waters washed the shores of sunny Spain, but to his eye as 
boundless and shoreless as eternity, upon which he was 
soon to enter. And the men of Massachusetts clasped 
each others' hands and looked in each others' faces, and 
said, "Our pilot has dropped from the helm; who now 
shall guide our ship of state?" And Massachusetts and 
the country were stilled in mourning and sorrow for the 
great man who had fallen, for the patriot who lay dead on 
his shield, for the orator and statesman who had died at 
the post of duty, and forty-two years later we have met on 
this solemn occasion to do honor to his memorv. 

Mr. Speaker, as I looked up in the face of the marble 
statue after it was unveiled to-day, I said to myself, could 
the stone heart beat, could the marble lips move, could 
the tongue of marble speak, what would he say to his 



Acceptance of the Statue of Daniel J I 'eljster. 255 

countrymen here now assembled? ]\Iethinks he would 
repeat over the prayer contained in his immortal reply to 
Hayne, of South Carolina: 

When these eyes shall behold the sun in heaven for the last time, 
may they not behold it shining upon the broken and dishonored 
fragments of a once glorious Union. 

Mr. Speaker, how can we close the services of this 
solemn and interesting occasion better than by repeating 
over the watchword of this great son of Massachusetts in 
the speech to which I have referred? How can we close 
these historical and memorial services better than by 
repeating his immortal words, the watchword of this great 
expounder and defender of the Constitution ; this man of 
giant mind and masterly intellect and overmastering 
genius, the great Daniel Webster, made immortal on 
the canvas in Faneuil Hall: 

Liberty and Union, now and forever, one and inseparable. 



Address of Mr. Baker on the 



Address of Mr. Baker, of New Hampshire. 

Mr. Speaker: Daniel Webster was born in the best 
room of the small frame house which had succeeded the 
loif cabin of early days, on a rocky upland farm, that, nest- 
ling among the New Hampshire hills, gently sloped to- 
ward the east and south. Near by was his father's saw- 
mill, which furnished employment when the farm work 
was done and supplemented the scanty returns of the soil. 
He was the son of Ebenezer and Abigail Eastman Webster. 
Ebenezer Webster had served with Stark in "Rodgers's 
Rangers," was with him on Dorchester Heights and at 
Bennington. He was a brave, lionest, hardy, patriotic, and 
progressive pioneer, a leader among his neighbors, who 
held their personal esteem and full confidence, so that he 
was elected to many offices of honor, responsibility, and 
trust. He was a prominent member of the New Hamp- 
shire convention which ratified the Constitution of the 
United States, and was very influential in securing the 
favorable action which made that State the ninth to ap- 
prove the Constitution and thus establish our Government. 

Mrs. Webster was the worthy wife of such a husband, 
patiently and lovingly bearing her full share of the cares 
and privations incident to their country life and poverty. 
Their family was large, and they labored incessantly to 
support and educate them. Their entire property was 
heavily mortgaged to give their sons Ezekiel and Daniel 
a collegiate education. Mrs. Webster did not hesitate to 
approve the loan which might have left her homele.ss, but 



Acceptance of the Statue of Daniel Webster. 257 

which was necessary to educate her sons. While the 
children were small ]\Ir. Webster sold the old farm where 
Daniel was born, and moved to a better one on the ^Nler- 
rimack River. There much of Daniel' .s childhood was 
passed. In later life he owned this farm, and occasionally 
retired to it to rest from the cares of public life and escape 
from the crowds which frequently followed him to ]\Iarsh- 
field. 

The time at my disposal will not permit a detailed nar- 
rative of young Webster's boyhood or education. Wlien 
fifteen years old he entered Dartmouth College, and grad- 
uated four years later with high honors. While in college 
he delivered several public addresses and for a time edited 
a weekly paper. After graduation he read law in his na- 
tive county and in the office of Christopher Gore, in 
Boston. Upon admission to the bar he practiced for a few 
years in the courts of central New Hampshire with great 
success, impressing court and jury with his wonderful 
personality and persuasive orator\-. 

Soon he outgrew this country practice and moved to 
Portsmouth, where he encountered Jeremiah Mason, the 
leader of the bar and one of the soundest lawyers New 
England ever produced. This was very fortunate for 
Webster. He had an opponent worthy of his great pow- 
ers, and was compelled to exert them to the utmost. At 
no period of his life did he work harder or his reputa- 
tion increase more rapidly. 

Thus far he had devoted himself to the law, and had 
accepted no office. The people now called him to public 
duty. He was elected to the Thirteenth Congress, and 
took his seat in May, 1813. He opposed some of the ultra 



258 A(Mress of Mr. Baker on the 

war measures, and was particularly bitter against the 
embargo and non-importation acts. He as earnestly favored 
the establishment of a sound national bank. 

He was reelected to the Fourteenth Congress, and again 
advocated a sound currency based upon specie payment, 
and favored liberal internal improvements. He believed 
them authorized by the Constitution. 

At the close of this Congress he retired for a time from 
public life, and, leaving his native State, opened an office 
in Boston. His practice at once became extensive and lu- 
crative, for his reputation had been established and he was 
well known at the Snffijik bar. While in Congress he had 
become one of the leaders of his party. Everywhere he 
was in honor, and was beginning himself to realize liis 
tremendous power before the courts and in the nation. 
The next year he argued the famous "Dartmouth College 
case" in the Supreme Court, and established the doctrine 
of vested rights on so firm a basis that even now it over- 
shadows the land. Seldom, if ever, did Webster surpass 
in dramatic power his speech in this case. When at the 
close of the argument his heart found expression in the 
words, "It is, sir, as I have said, a small college ; and yet 
there are those who love it," he broke down under the 
intensity of his feelings, his voice faltered, and his eyes 
filled with tears. This departure from the usual course of 
legal argument was unpremeditated and genuine. It won 
the sympathy of the court, and possibly the case. In no 
instance in his long professional career did he show greater 
power or better management than in this defense of his 
alma mater. 

Clients now thronged his office, and probably more cases 



Acceptance of the Statue of Daniel Webster. 259 

were declined than accepted. He argued many causes in 
the Supreme Court each one of which would have become 
an era in the life of most lawyers. This occasion will not 
justify an enumeration of them, much le.ss an attempt to 
state the important points involved or an abstract of 
Webster's arguments. They were of wide range, and 
frequently turned upon some constitutional right or pro- 
hibition. His argument in the famous White murder 
case, tried at Salem, Mass., is one of the most noted of 
his renowned pleas. It is complete in every detail, but 
especially remarkable for its wonderful analysis of the 
influence of conscience and fear upon human action. 
Through the ages it will be known as a classic in forensic 
speech, and will lose nothing by comparison with the best 
examples of ancient and modern oratory. 

It is probable that Webster preferred not to return to 
Congress; that his legal and oratorical duties were congenial, 
and vastly more remunerative than any public service; 
but the people of Boston in 1822 insisted that he should 
become their Representative, and from that time until 1841 
his service in House and Senate was continuous. During 
all these years his life was so crowded with private and pub- 
lic affairs that little time seems to have been reserved for 
recreation. No one without his wonderful physical and 
mental organization could have performed such continuous 
and arduous duties. 

No year of his Congressional life was without distin- 
guished service, but his highest reputation as an orator 
and a statesman was secured by his reply to Hayne. It 
was the greatest speech ever delivered in the vSenate, and 
upon it Mr. Webster's fame as a public man will rest. 



260 Address of Mr. Baker on the 

Its power will be recognized wherever constitutional 
government shall exist. Its influence was and is un- 
bounded. Every schoolboy has declaimed selections from 
it, and each year it is taught to the children of the land 
and lives anew in the hearts of his countrymen. No one 
can estimate its effect when, thirty years later, the theories 
of Hayne culminated in open rebellion and the issues 
of the old debate were settled by an appeal to arms. 
Throughout the loyal North, Webster's defense of the 
Constitution and appeal for national life were universally 
cherished. The people had enshrined the Union in their 
hearts, and they freely gave their treasure and lives that 
"Liberty and Union" should ever be "one and insep- 
arable. ' ' 

In 1841 Mr. Webster resigned his seat in the Senate 
and became Secretary of State under President Harrison, 
and after the latter' s death retained the office under Presi- 
dent Tyler until ^May, 1S43. During these two years he 
proved himself a successful diplomatist. By the Ashbur- 
ton treaty, and the negotiations attending it, he established 
the northern and eastern boundaries of the United States, 
secured the extradition of criminals, and enforced his 
denial of the "right of search "' by an argument so unan- 
swerable that the British claim has ever since been 
abandoned and every ship finds its protection in its na- 
tional flag. 

Upon his retirement from the Department of State he 
returned to his home at Marshfield, attended to his private 
affairs, which had been too long neglected, and renewed 
the practice of his profession. 

But his State and party would not permit him to retire 



Accept a ncc of the Statue of Daniel U'elister. 201 

from public life, and in 1845 he was reelected to the Senate. 
At once he became prominent in its deliberations, defended 
the Ashburton treaty in an elaborate argument, opposed 
the annexation of Texas, deprecated the war with Mexico, 
and delivered his famous "7th of March speech," which 
disappointed his constituents, alienated many friends, and 
brought upon him the condemnation of the North. The 
opposition to him steadily increased, and embittered his 
life; it may have hastened his death. It could not obliter- 
ate his patriotic public service or destroy the glory of the 
past. That was secure, and brightens with the years. 

In 1850 he again resigned his seat in the Senate to 
become Secretary of State. He was the leader of Mr. 
Fillmore's Administration. No great international ques- 
tions required his attention, but the honor and dignity 
of our country were fully maintained. 

Mr. WEB.STER was no longer a young man. His health 
and strength were impaired, but he continued to discharge 
his duties as Secretary of State until the 8th of September, 
when he returned home, and died October 24, 1852. His 
last words, "I still live," are emblematic of the loving 
memory in which his life and services are held by his 
countrymen. 

No American life is comparable with his. The poor 
New Hampshire bo\- had struggled through school and 
college into his profession, had won a place in its front 
rank, had represented his native and adopted States in 
Congress, had become a Senator and won an imperishable 
name as the "Defender of the Constitution," had managed 
the foreign affairs of his country with discretion and credit, 
securing recognition of the inviolability of American citi- 



262 Address of Mr. Baker on the 

zenship and the sanctity of his country's flag, and had five 
times been presented to his party by prominent and enthus- 
iastic admirers for nomination to the Presidency. Such, 
in brief, is the life which we commemorate to-day by the 
statue presented to the nation. 

Webster needs no monuments or statues; but the world 
is enriched by every testimonial to great talents, to high 
resolve, to noble endeavor, and to patriotic service, which 
stimulates the people to right thought and earnest action, 
teaching them not only to understand public affairs, but 
wisely to discharge their share of a government for and by 
themselves. 

Mr. Speaker, I move the adoption of the pending 
resolutions. 

The resolutions offered by Air. Blair were again read, and 
were unanimously adopted. 

DECEMBER 21, 1894. 

A message from the Senate, by ]\Ir. Piatt, one of its 
clerks, announced that the Senate had passed the following 
resolutions; in which the concurrence of the House was 
requested : 

Resolved by the Senate {the House of Representatives concurring). 
That the thanks of Congress be presented to the State of New 
Hampshire for the statue of Daniel Webster, a citizen of that 
State, illustrious for historic renown and for distinguished civic 
service. 

Resolved, That the statue be accepted and placed in the National 
Statu-ary Hall in the Capitol, and that a copy of these resolutions, 
duly authenticated, be transmitted to his excellency the governor of 
New Hampshire. 



Acceptance of the Statue of Daniel JVebster. 2G;5 

The Speaker. The Chair will call the attention of the 
gentleman from New Hampshire. On yesterday afternoon 
the House passed a concurrent resolution and sent it to the 
Senate. The Senate has passed a concurrent resolution 
and sent it to the House. The Chair would suggest to the 
gentleman from New Hampshire that the House had better 
concur in the Senate resolution. 

]Mr. B.\KER, of New Hampshire. Will it not become 
necessar\- to reconsider our vote? 

The Speaker. Not at all. 

Mr. Baker, of New Hampshire. Then I mo\-e that the 
House concur in the Senate resolution. 

The resolution was read, as follows: 

Resolved by the Senate {the House of Representatives concurring). 
That the thanks of Congress be presented to the State of New 
Hampshire for the statue of Daniel Webster, a citizen of that 
State, illustrious for historic renown and for distinguished civic 
service. 

Resolved, That the statue be accepted and placed in the National 
Statuary Hall in the Capitol, and that a copy of these resolutions, 
duly authenticated, be transmitted to his excellency the governor of 
New Hampshire. 

The concurrent resolution was adopted. 



Lc "08 



